Total Drama Island: The Hunted
by Kamari Turen
Summary: Six years after TDA Chris calls the former campers together for a reunion. Things start out fine, but quickly turn bad when someone begins taking the campers out.
1. The Last Six Years

**I own nothing. All characters are the property of Teletoon Inc. (Except for OCs to come in later chapters)**

There were once 22 teens who spent a summer at a crusty old summer camp competing for $100,000. They were pushed to the limits of human endurance and ultimately got an even sweeter deal, the chance to win one million dollars. They failed, but 14 of them got another chance at the million on the second season. It's been six years since the end of TDA and a lot has changed for the 22 former campers. For one they're no longer teens. They also live dramatically different lives than they did back then.

The 22 hated their experiences at Camp Wawanakwa and the abandoned movie back lot, and yet for all their complaining they found more than just shitty camp food and stinky bathrooms, they found themselves. They found love, they found friends, and they found fame. At the end of it all they all realized that they had become inseparably tied to one another, friends until the vary end. This is the story of that journey of discovery. This is the story of how 22 seemingly ordinary teens survived not only crazy challenges, but also each other and came out better for it. This is the story of the love they found and the lessons they learned; how to rise above adversity and form bonds that last forever. This is their story now and the one lesson they have left to learn- being famous can be deadly.

As I said, its been six years since TDA ended and the 22 have gone on with their lives, making new lives for themselves far away from the shadows of fame. Gwen and Trent got married and own a goth music store. Trent also recorded and released a solo album that shot up the charts. Bridgette and Geoff also got married and moved to Los Angeles where they own a surf shop and maintain a marine sanctuary. Courtney and Duncan also got hitched and Duncan builds bikes and custom weapons. Courtney is a Provincial Senator for Ontario. Owen and Izzy are together and own a bakery. Izzy also teaches wilderness survival classes, often taking her students to Camp Wawanakwa. Tyler and Lindsey are together and live in a huge mansion. Tyler coaches several sports and Lindsey has her own fashion line which she started with Beth. Beth lives next door with Cody, who has become a high school math teacher. LeShawna and Harold live together and recently opened a ballin' club in Toronto. Everyone's favorite narcissist Justin became a male model and has modeled some of Lindsey and Beth's male fashion lines. Eva has tamed her rage and recently opened a gym. She has been dating Noah, who owns a small bookstore. Katie and Sadie are still BFFFLs and are just hanging out enjoying life, as is Ezekiel who is no longer a backwards thinking, sexist redneck. D.J., after some toughening up by Duncan and Chef Hatchet, has shaken nearly all his phobias and now runs an animal shelter. Heather now lives in L.A. and is pursuing a career in acting. She teaches ballet on the side.

Finally Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet are still hosting reality T.V. shows but they both hold a special place in their hearts for the TDI campers. Chris is growing tired of hosting shows, and feels like nothing he does is fun anymore. He hasn't felt a sense of fun since the end of TDA, so he decides it is time for a TDI reunion.

**A/N: I changed the title of this chapter, because the title I had previously was incorrect.**


	2. The Reunion

Chris and Chef stood in front of the hotel where the reunion was to be held, waiting for the campers to arrive. "Man we really should have planned a nasty surprise for them." Chris muttered.

"Chris, do you really think they wouldn't have expected that?" Chef asked. "They're a lot smarter than we give them credit for, ya know?"

"Yeah I guess your right dude." Chris replied.

"Your damn right he's right." said a familiar voice from behind them. Chris and Chef turned to find Duncan and Courtney standing on the hotel steps. Duncan wore an evil, satisfied grin and Courtney had a slight smile as well. Duncan still wore his hair in a green mohawk and Courtney still dressed like an uptight snob.

"Why you sneaky little bastard." Chef growled at Duncan. "How did you get behind us?"

"We came in through the back." Courtney answered. "Duncan wanted to make an entrance as always, so we decided to sneak up on you. It's only fair you know."

"I guess your right." said Chris. "Payback is a bitch."

"Hey if you want bitch, you'll need to talk to Heather." said Duncan.

Just then a black Hummer limo pulled up in front of the hotel. Loud music could be heard blaring from within and it was obvious that at least a few of the others were in there. Sure enough, no sooner had the vehicle come to a stop, when Geoff popped out followed by Bridgette, Owen, Izzy, Katie, Sadie, Trent, Gwen, Heather, Eva, Noah, Tyler, Lindsey, Beth, Cody, Ezekiel, Justin, D.J., LeShawna, and Harold. "Ah man, they totally blew our entrance." Duncan cried.

"Can't blow your entrance if you've already entered, dude." said Geoff, walking up and shaking Duncan's hand. "Long time, no see bro."

"Yeah man, it's been too long." said Duncan. "So how have you and Bridge been?"

"Good, good. L.A.'s great dude." said Geoff. "Plenty of places to party and surf which is great for both of us ya know?"

"Yeah I bet it is." said Duncan as he moved towards D.J. "It's good to see you and Bridge again Geoff."

"Yeah man totally." said Geoff as he moved to shake hands with Chris.

While this was going on the others had also commenced with greetings, trading stories of the last six years. Of most concern was Drama, Harold and LeShawna's club which they had only just recently opened. Only Katie and Sadie had visited it; indeed they came almost every night. Most of the others hadn't even heard that the club existed. "So how come you two didn't tell us you were opening a club?" Heather asked indignantly, eying LeShawna.

"Because we didn't know if we actually were going to." LeShawna replied, glaring at Heather. It was clear that, even after six years there was still some resentment between the two.

"How could you not know?" asked Izzy, cocking her head to one side.

"Money issues." replied Harold. "It ended up costing a lot more than we thought it was going to. And then the contractors fucked up the electrical work. Idiots!"

"Wow dude, that's pretty shitty." said Tyler. "You should've called Cody he could've helped you out."

"Yeah well I forgot his number." said Harold, hanging his head. "I've been forgetting a lot of things lately and I can't figure out why."

"Well whatever the reason, you guys got the club off the ground and from what I hear it's pretty badass." said Tyler. "And since it's here in Toronto we'll have to hit it up some time while we're all here."

"Totally." said Harold. "Katie and Sadie will love that, they come by almost every night."

"Hey 'campers'," Chris said making air quotes to emphasize campers, which got both chuckles and glares from the others, "let's head inside, they've got a feast waiting for us."

"Alright food!" Owen shouted as he barreled up the stares, knocking Chris aside. Everyone laughed and then followed Owen in.


	3. The Accident

The following night the 22 were spread out all across Toronto. A few had stayed at the hotel, but most of them were out enjoying themselves. Owen, Izzy, Eva, and Noah had decided to go out to dinner at a relatively fancy place not far from the hotel. After eating their fill the four of them went for a nice little stroll around downtown. As they were heading back to the hotel Izzy dropped her cell phone in the middle of the street. The four reached the sidewalk before she realized what she had done. "Oh crap, my phone." Izzy muttered as she retreated back to get it. As she bent down to retrieve her phone a black SUV came speeding out of nowhere. Eva saw it first and screamed "Izzy watch out." but she was to late. The SUV slammed into Izzy throwing her into the air. She hit the ground with a sickening thud and was still.

"IZZY" Owen shouted as he ran into the street, "Izzy talk to me." He dropped to his knees at her side and grasped her slight frame, but she did not respond. "Oh God, Izzy, please wake up, please wake up." Owen sobbed, shaking her slightly.

"Oh God, oh God." said Eva who was now kneeling by Owen.

Noah somehow managed to keep his cool long enough to dial 911. He also managed to get the license plate number, which he relayed to the cops when they arrived. Owen was still freaking out when the paramedics arrived but Noah and Eva managed to clam him down. Noah turned to one of the paramedics as they loaded Izzy into the ambulance and asked, "Is it okay if he rides with you?"

"Yeah, sure." the paramedic replied. "We can arrange for you two to come along too."

"No that's fine, we have some friends who need to know what happened." said Noah. He turned to Owen, who Eva was still holding and said, "Owen, you go with Izzy. Eva and I will go get the others and meet you at the hospital, okay." Owen nodded and Eva released him. She and Noah waited until the ambulance had left and then tore off in the direction of the hotel.

They arrived to find the others gathered in the lobby waiting. "There you guys are." said Gwen. "We've been waiting for nearly an hour, where've you been? We thought maybe you got lost or-" she stopped suddenly seeing the looks on their faces. "What's wrong, where's Izzy and Owen?"

Noah looked Gwen in the eye and began, "Izzy, she, she's-" but he couldn't go on, finally overcome with emotion at what had just happened.

"Noah! Quit bawling like a baby and tell us what happened." Duncan shouted.

"Would you shut up for once, you arrogant, criminal bastard." snapped Eva. Duncan moved towards her ready for a fight, but Courtney stopped him.

In an attempt to diffuse the situation, Bridgette stepped forward and took hold of Noah, who was shaking with anger, fear, and frustration. "Noah," Bridgette said gently, "Noah look at me. Just calm down and tell us what happened." After several tense seconds Noah finally quit shaking and looked up at the others.

"It's Izzy." he said, his voice shaking slightly. "She was hit by a SUV and was taken to the hospital. Owen's with her."

"Oh God." said Gwen, "how did- I mean what-?" She was unable to complete her thoughts as the shock of the situation hit her.

"Is she okay?" Cody asked looking hopefully at Noah.

"I don't know." Noah replied. "It all happened so fast. She dropped her phone, went back to get it and then-", once again Noah succumbed to his emotions.

"You sure you saw what you saw Noah?" asked Trent. "Cause if you're joking I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Trent!" cried Gwen. "How can you say that? Isn't it obvious-"

"What? It would be just like Izzy to play a joke like this on us. And it would be just as likely that Noah, Eva and Ow-" WHAM! Eva's fist collided with Trent's face.

"Shut up! Shut up you stupid fuck." Eva bellowed. "This is no joke. I was there too. I saw it happen, saw the damned SUV, tried to warn Izzy, but-" and she to faltered under her emotions. It was the first time any of them had seen Eva cry.

"Alright, okay I was just asking." said Trent, his hand over his face covering his bloody nose. He looked away from the others, ashamed by his outburst.

"We should get to the hospital. I told Owen we'd meet him there." said Noah.

"Yeah the big guy needs us right now." agreed D.J. And with that they set off for the hospital, arriving to find it crawling with paparazzi. "Oh shit." said D.J. "Just what we need a fuckin' media circus." Apparently the media had gotten wind of the fact that the 22 were in town and had been waiting for something like this to happen.

"Alright, everyone out!" shouted Duncan as the paparazzi pushed in around them.

"No I don't know anything and I don't want my picture taken." shouted Justin. "We're here to see a friend and we don't want to deal with you, now piss off!"

"Justin, use your 'powers'" Katie cried. "Lure these lunatics outside." Justin nodded, ripped off his shirt, and headed for the door. Sure enough the crowd followed him, and he managed to ditch them a few blocks from the hospital. He made it back just in time to find the room the others had been ushered into. For two and a half hours they waited for news, but none came. Finally Owen appeared in the doorway, his head hanging and tears falling from his eyes.

"Owen?" Beth asked. "Owen is Izzy alright? Is she gonna be okay?" Owen shook his head and did not answer.

"She's not-" Sadie began, but Owen cut her off.

"No she's not dead." he said sadly, "she's in a coma and they don't know if she'll come out." He collapsed into a chair and began crying harder. Courtney, Duncan, and D.J. came over to him.

D.J. placed a hand on Owen's shoulder and said "It'll be okay, she'll be okay."

"How can you say that?" Owen asked. "You don't know, you can't know-"

"Owen, D.J.'s just trying to help." said Courtney. "Izzy's been in tough scrapes before and she always comes out on top."

"D.J. and Courtney are right." said Duncan. "Izzy's tough, tougher than any of us. If anyone can get through this it's her."

"Don't worry Owen, we'll be here for you, no matter what." said Lindsey.

"Yeah bro, we totally got your back, eh." said Ezekiel.

"Thanks guys." said Owen. "I knew I could count on you."

Later that night, as he got up to take a piss, Duncan found something sticking out under the door. He retrieved the object, a piece of paper with a note scribbled on it in a hand he did not recognize. It said, _Izzy was the first, she will not be the last. You are all in danger now._ "Shit." Duncan muttered, "now what?"


	4. The First Message

"I don't get it." said Heather. "What does it mean we're all in danger now?" It was the morning after Izzy's accident and they were all gathered in Duncan and Courtney's room. Duncan had waited until morning before calling the others and telling them about the note. He had spent the last two hours trying to figure out what it meant, but he had no luck. So far, none of the others had either.

"I'm just as confused as you Heather." said Duncan. "It says Izzy was the first, but the first what? She's not dead, so she can't be the first victim, can she?"

"I don't know about that Duncan." said Gwen. "Being in a coma is not much better than being dead. I mean yes you're still alive, but are you really-?" She caught Owen's eye and fell silent.

"She's still a victim, technically speaking." said Noah. "But as to whether she's a victim of a simple hit and run or something else, I'm not sure."

"You did say you got the plate number, right?" asked Lindsey.

"Yes, I did. And I told the cops." replied Noah. "So they should be out looking for the SUV right now. They'll let us know if they find it."

"Man this sucks!" Chris said suddenly. "This is so not what I had in mind when I called you all. Just a reunion, just a fucking reunion, that's all I wanted. I just wanted to see you guys again, and now Izzy's in the hospital. It's my fault, it's all my fault."

"Chris, don't say that man." said Trent. "This isn't your fault. You can't go all crazy with guilt just because it was you who invited us all here. You had no way of knowing some crazy fucker was going to be a horrible driver and not hit his brakes in time. You had no way of knowing this was gonna happen, none of us did. This isn't camp, where we all knew what to expect. We all knew the risks there. But out here, in the real world any damn thing can happen."

"Trent's right." said Owen. "You couldn't have possibly known this was gonna happen. I don't blame you, any more than I blame you for the crazy shit you put us through at camp. Like Duncan said last night, Izzy's tough and I know she'll pull through. What we need to do now is figure out that damn note so we can prevent any more of us from getting hurt."

"Here, here mate." said Ezekiel. "Let's get to it, eh."

"Agreed." said Geoff. "We need to figure this thing out before anyone else goes down."

They didn't know it at the time, but they were already to late to stop the tide of darkness. Things were set in motion the moment they arrived in Toronto, and they were all now caught in a web of lies and deceit that would eventually consume them all.

Later that day, Owen, D.J., Eva, Noah, and Justin returned to the hospital to check up on Izzy. It was unnerving to see her lying there, unmoving, so helpless, when they were so used to her energy. As Owen gazed down sadly at Izzy's prone form he wondered how she could possibly come back from this. Her injuries were severe; a cracked skull, multiple spinal fractures, broken legs, and internal hemorrhaging. D.J. rested his hand on Owen's shoulder, and Eva took hold of his hand.

Owen smiled weakly at them and then said to Izzy, "I'm not sure if you can hear me Iz, but I promise I will not let this go unpunished. The bastard in that SUV will get what's coming to him. I will make him pay. I promise. I love you so much Izzy, never forget that, and I will fight for you until the bitter end."

"Well said, Owen, well said." said Justin.

"I think Izzy would appreciate that." said Noah. "And I know she feels the same."

They returned to the hotel and told the others how Izzy was doing. "Do the doctors have any idea when she'll come out?" asked LeShawna.

"No, they don't even know if she'll come out." said Eva.

"She will." said Duncan. "Like I said last night, if any one can it would be Izzy."

With that, they set about working on the note, determined to figure out the puzzle before anyone else was hurt. But figuring the message out was proving to be very difficult. Without knowing who could possibly have wrote it, they had no idea where to begin looking. It seemed this reunion was turning into one giant nightmare. And unfortunately things were about to get much, much worse.


	5. Part of the Family

The next week was extremely trying for the former campers. They were getting no where with the note and Izzy's condition was not improving. Duncan in particular was growing more and more frustrated by the whole thing, to the point where he had begun drinking himself into a stupor each night. None of them had gotten much sleep and the reunion was now a disaster. Owen visited Izzy every day and was growing more depressed by the second. The others, mainly D.J., Noah, and Eva, did their best to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to brighten his mood for long. On the ninth day after Izzy's accident the campers were holed up in Duncan and Courtney's room once again.

"Man, this sucks!" said Tyler. "It's been over a week and we still have nothing, no news, no arrests, and we're never gonna figure out who wrote that damn note."

"Yeah well what else are we supposed to do?" Duncan shot back. "You wanna just sit around with your thumb up your ass and hope the answer falls in your lap? Or do you not care Tyler? Do you want Izzy's attacker to just go free so he can attack someone else? What if he goes after Lindsey next, what are you gonna do then?"

"Dude, why do you care so much?" Tyler responded. "Izzy's not even your girl, so why are you all up in arms about this?" This drew gasps from several of the others. They had never expected Tyler, of all people, to be the one to stand up to Duncan.

"Why do I care, why do I care Tyler?" shouted Duncan. "Your asking me why I care? I care because no one else does, because no one else is doing a goddamn thing to protect us or get justice for Izzy."

"Rich of you to talk about justice, Mr. Ex-criminal." said Tyler.

"Fuck you." shouted Duncan. "You don't know anything about me."

"Man I'm out of here." said Tyler. "Enjoy your lives guys, it's hopeless you know."

"Tyler wait!" said Lindsey, "don't go, we can work this out."

"No, he made his decision." said Duncan. "He has no place here anymore. You wanna go Ty, then go but you ain't welcome back here you useless piece of shit."

Tyler didn't respond. After glaring at Duncan a few seconds he turned and stormed out of the room. "No Tyler, don't go." said Lindsey following him out. Beth followed as well.

"Well that's just great, way to go dumbass." said Heather, glaring at Duncan. "You picked a damn fine time to go ballistic."

"He started it." snarled Duncan. "If he doesn't want to help, then he has no place here, he has no place in this family." Courtney started to say something but stopped, sensing that it was futile. "Let's just get back to work." said Duncan.

Meanwhile outside Lindsey and Beth were trying to convince Tyler to come back in and talk it out. "Look, maybe Duncan was out of line a bit, but you can't just walk away." said Beth. "We need you Tyler, more than you think we do."

"Nobody needs me." said Tyler. "Nobody's ever needed me."

"I do." said Lindsey. "I need you Tyler. I need your strength, I need your compassion, and I need your love. Just come back in, Duncan will forgive you, they all will."

"Oh so now you're on his side, huh?" said Tyler. "You think I'm at fault, don't you, Lindsey?"

"N-no, Tyler I don't-" Lindsey whimpered.

"Save it!" snapped Tyler, "I don't have time to listen to your whining. I'm out of here. Oh and by the way Lindsey, we're done!" And with that he stormed off leaving Lindsey and Beth in shock. Not wanting to face Duncan they did not return to the room; instead choosing to go to the coffee shop down the street.

"I can't believe he broke up with me." said Lindsey. "I wasn't trying to defend Duncan, I just wanted Tyler to stay." Her voice wavered as she said this, the impact of what had just happened finally sinking in.

"Don't worry about it Lindsey, he'll come around." said Beth. "We're all under a lot of stress. Tyler just needs some time to cool off, but he'll be back. And there's no way Duncan won't let him back into the room. Besides, now we have some time to ourselves."

This cheered Lindsey up a bit and the two of them decided to go for a short walk. They had no sooner left the coffee shop, when two men in black ski masks jumped out of a car and attacked. The larger of the two stabbed Lindsey in the gut with a large hunting knife, before throwing her to the ground. "LINDSEY!" Beth screamed as she dove towards her friend. The other attacker caught her by the ankle and pulled her back, whacking her over the head with some blunt object. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, the two men were gone.

A short time later, Tyler returned to the hotel. He made his way up to the room, intent on repairing the breach. He entered to find the others in almost exactly the same place he had left them.

"What the hell are you doing here?" said Duncan. "Your not part of this family anymore."

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry." said Tyler. "You were right, I was being selfish and uncaring, and I shouldn't have said what I said. So, I'm sorry. I want this to end just as bad as you do."

Duncan considered this for a moment before answering, "Okay, I forgive you. And I guess I was a little harsh. It's just, I don't want to see any of you suffer. Your my friends, hell your my family and I can't bare it if anything happens to any of you. This is what I do. If there is a threat you tackle it head on and that's what I intend to do."

"I understand man." said Tyler. "Now let's get this thing done."

The others smiled at the two of them, glad that the conflict was over. Courtney moved to Duncan's side and whispered in his ear, "I'm proud of you Duncan. The old you would have kicked his ass, but you talked it out. You really have matured."

"Gee thanks for the support, princess." said Duncan, sarcastically. "It's nice to know that my wife has my back." Courtney slugged him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?" said Duncan.

"Don't call me princess." Courtney said, giggling.

Just then there was a knock at the door. "Oh now what?" said Noah, rolling his eyes.

There was another knock. Duncan untangled himself from Courtney and answered the door. "WHAT? What do you-?" he stopped seeing the frantic look on the busboy's face. "What's wrong with you dude?" he asked.

"There's been an attack." the busboy said. "I was told to come up and let you guys know."

"An attack?" asked Bridgette. "An attack on who? We're all here aren't we?" They looked around checking for everyone, but two were missing.

"Oh God, Lindsey and Beth!" said Tyler. "They're not here."

"I thought they were with you." said Harold.

"No, they just followed me outside. I told them to leave me alone." said Tyler, terror rising in his voice. "They could be anywhere, I didn't see where they went after I left."

"They were attacked outside the coffee shop that's two blocks from here." said the busboy.

"And where are they now?" asked Chef.

"They were taken to the hospital." said the busboy. "From what I was told it sounded like they were in pretty bad shape."

"Shit, shit, shit!" said D.J., "lets get down there."

"Did anyone see who attacked them?" asked Gwen.

"I don't know." replied the busboy. "No one told me."

"Oh that's just spectacular." said Heather. "Now we have three friends who have been attacked by unknown attackers."

"Look, we can figure it out later. Let's just get to the hospital." said Gwen.

Within twenty minutes they had arrived at the hospital. A nurse met them in the waiting room with word on Lindsey and Beth's condition. "How are they?" asked Cody.

"They are in stable but serious condition." the nurse replied. "Lindsey was stabbed in the midsection and Beth was struck in the head with some sort of blunt object. They're bad now but they will make it."

"Can we see them?" asked Tyler.

"They're both out right now, but they should be awake in an hour or two." said the nurse.

"We'll wait here until they do, if that's all right?" said Trent.

"Yes that would be fine." replied the nurse. "I'll let you know when they are awake."

"Thank you." said Trent.

**A/N: Well that's the first five chapters. I know things are moving a little slow, but that's just my style of writing. I promise things will pick up soon. Anyone care to guess who will be taken out next? It might surprise you who it is. Until then, enjoy and please leave more reviews!**


	6. Duncan's Warning

Trent felt a tap on his shoulder that jolted him awake. "Huh, what?" he said. "Wuzzgoinon?" It was the nurse he had spoken with earlier. "Sir, sir" she said, "your friends are awake."

"Huh?" said Trent, and then he remembered. "Oh yeah, thanks. Hey what time is it?"

"It's three-thirty in the morning." the nurse replied.

"Okay, thanks." said Trent. He looked around at the others; they were all asleep except Chef, who was staring out the window.

"Hey Chef, what're you looking at?" Trent asked.

"Nothin', nothin'" said Chef. "Just thinking about all this crazy shit."

"Well the nurse says Lindsey and Beth are awake." said Trent. "I think we should wake the others and go see how they're doing." Chef nodded in agreement, and the two of them quickly roused the others.

"Ugh, where are we?" Cody asked. "What's going on?"

"We're in the hospital dude." said Trent. "Remember we were waiting for Beth and Lindsey to wake up?"

"Oh yeah. So are they awake yet?" asked Cody.

"Yeah, they are." said Trent. "We're about to go say hi."

"How long have we been here?" asked Noah.

"Nine and a half hours." said Chef "Well actually a bit longer than that, it was three-thirty when the nurse came back. It's now three-thirty six."

"Who cares what time it is, let's just go see them." said Tyler impatiently. Chef nodded and the others followed him and Tyler to Beth and Lindsey's room.

They entered to find the two girls laid out on beds, Lindsey with her abdomen heavily bandaged, Beth with her head wrapped in bandaging. Both of them were hooked to I V's and were heavily sedated. Lindsey smiled weakly as they entered, but Beth gave no sign of acknowledgement. Tyler walked over to Lindsey and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hey babe, how's it going?" he asked.

"I knew you'd come back." Lindsey whispered. "I knew we weren't over."

"Yeah." said Tyler. "We'll never be over Lindsey. I will never leave you again."

"I know you won't." said Lindsey. "You need me to much, you can't live without me." She winced in pain as she finished speaking. Heather was also standing next to Lindsey's bed. "Hey Lindsey." she said, "be strong, you'll get through this, I know you will."

"Thanks Heather." said Lindsey. "Still BFFs for life right?" She lifted her hand and Heather took it saying, "Totally, we'll always be tight."

Heather then turned to Beth, who had been conversing with Cody. "Beth, I know it's been six years, but I just wanted to apologize for everything I did to you at camp." said Heather.

"Heather, there's no need to apologize." said Beth. "What's past is past, what's done is done. I know it was all in the spirit of competition, and I hold no grudges." Heather smiled and nodded.

"I think that's enough visiting for tonight." said Chris. "We'll come and see you again tomorrow. Get some rest now."

"You too Chris." said Beth as Chris and the others left.

Shortly after returning to the hotel, Duncan found another note wedged under his door. "Ah shit, not another one." he muttered as he read it. It said, _I told you Izzy was just the first. I told you others would fall. Beware Duncan, you are next._


	7. The Leader Falls

"Next? What the hell does it mean, your next?" said Trent, staring at Duncan. It was the next morning and Duncan had just told the others about the second note.

"Your guess is as good as mine, dude." Duncan replied. "I still haven't figured out the first note, no way am I gonna get this one in one night."

"Okay, is it just me or is anyone else starting to see a pattern here?" asked Noah. "I mean first Izzy, then Lindsey and Beth, and now we have this note saying Duncan is next. What the hell is going on here?"

"The first note did say Izzy wouldn't be the last, and we were all in danger." said Cody. "Maybe this is what it meant?"

"But it still doesn't explain who wrote it." said Katie. "Who would seemingly want us dead and then warn us we were all marked? It doesn't make sense."

"I'm not sure it's supposed to make sense, Katie." said Justin.

"Here's what I don't get." said Geoff. "Why is it that Duncan is the one who found both notes? Don't get me wrong dude, I'm not accusing you of anything, but you have to admit it is kinda strange that only you have found these notes."

"I've been wondering that myself." said Duncan, "why the fuck am I the one getting these notes, the only one, when whoever's writing them obviously knows who we all are? What's so special about me that makes this lunatic think I need to be the first to know?"

"Well in this case it may have been good you were the first to know." said Sadie. "At least now we know you are the next target."

"You're certainly right Sadie." said Courtney. "And Noah, to answer your question, no you aren't the only one whose starting to see a pattern."

"Well that settles it." said Chef. "No one leaves this place alone. If you wanna go out you take someone with you, and you let the rest of us know."

"And you," Chris said, facing Duncan, "you are not to leave at all, understand?" Duncan nodded, reluctantly.

"Should a couple of us go to the hospital and watch over Izzy, Lindsey, and Beth?" asked Cody, looking at Chef.

"No, I'll call and tell them to double security, but they should be safe." Chef replied. "From now on this thing stays contained. No one else is getting hurt."

A week passed with no incident. Duncan had not left the hotel, nor had he received any more notes. He was beginning to go stir crazy just sitting around. Tyler, Cody, and Owen visited the hospital daily, but the girls were not going to be discharged anytime soon, least of all Izzy, whose condition had still not improved. It was beginning to look like there was no chance of escaping this hell. The campers still had no answers, no where to look, and no way of knowing what was coming next. Finally, nearly two weeks after receiving the second note, Duncan had had enough. He decided it was time to get out.

"Duncan please, you know you're not supposed to leave." Courtney pleaded with her husband. "What if something happens to you?"

"Courtney, nothings gonna happen." said Duncan. "It's been two weeks and we haven't had anything happen. I just want to go for a quick bike ride, that's all."

"But Chris said-" Duncan held up a hand to silence her.

"I don't give a shit what Chris said." said Duncan. "I'm going out and no one is gonna stop me, got that?" And with that he hopped on his motorcycle and rode off, leaving Courtney standing in front of the hotel, shaking with frustration.

Duncan rode out of the city, tearing down the highway at breakneck speed. He caught sight of a black SUV trailing along behind him, but shrugged it off, thinking it was just another driver. But then he remembered, it had been a black SUV that had hit Izzy. _Shit_, Duncan thought,_ what did Noah say the plate number was again? IGP 262?_ He glanced back and saw the plate of the SUV. It read IGP 262.

"Shit" Duncan muttered, "it's them." Suddenly his bike jolted as the back tire blew out. The bike twisted, as Duncan lost control, and pitched him off. He hit the pavement hard, rolled to one side in time to avoid the SUV and then everything went dark.

Meanwhile, Courtney met up with Bridgette, Heather, and Gwen in the lobby of the hotel. "Hey Court, what's up?" Bridgette asked.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." said Courtney casting a nervous glance at them.

"You okay Court?" asked Gwen, "you look a little distracted."

"I'm fine." Courtney said after a brief pause.

"Where's Duncan at? He up in your room?" asked Bridgette.

"Uh, no. He went for a ride on his motorcycle." Courtney replied.

"WHAT?" exclaimed the other three.

"He went out for a ride, by himself, after Chris told him to stay put?" asked Bridgette.

Courtney nodded. "And you didn't stop him?" said Heather.

"I tried, but he wouldn't listen to me." said Courtney in a hysterical voice. "He said he didn't have to do what Chris told him to, said he didn't give a shit."

Just then, D.J. came running towards them, a frightened look on his face. "The hospital just called." he said before any of them could ask. "There's been an accident, Duncan was injured, and it's bad."


	8. Another Message

"I told him not to go anywhere." said Chris, in an irritated voice. They were once again at the hospital, this time for Duncan. It had been an hour since D.J. had gotten the call about the accident.

"You couldn't expect him to just sit around all day." Courtney shot at Chris. "That's not the kind of person Duncan is."

"No Duncan is the kind of person who does stupid shit and nearly gets himself killed." Chris shot back.

"Now hold on a second, Chris." said Chef. "Duncan may have disobeyed orders, but Courtney is right. You couldn't have expected him to just stay put. Besides would you have stayed if your roles had been reversed?"

Chris hung his head. "No, I guess I wouldn't have." he said solemnly. "Sorry for being an asshole." he said looking at Courtney.

"Apology accepted." Courtney replied. "I guess I could have been a bit less harsh too. I could've done more to stop him and I didn't. Its just, he wouldn't listen, he just blew me off and left, and now-" she could not go on.

"Courtney, everything is gonna be okay." said Bridgette in a comforting voice.

"How can you say that Bridgette?" Courtney asked, fighting to hold back the tears. "How can any of us say that? Things aren't getting better, ever since Izzy went down things have gone from bad to worse." The others had nothing to say. They knew Courtney was right, it seemed like every time things were starting to turn around, another one of them was taken out.

Just then the nurse, the same one they had dealt with when Lindsey and Beth were brought in, entered the room.

"How is he?" Courtney asked, sniffing.

"He's doing quite well, considering." said the nurse. "A few broken bones and a concussion, but that's it. He's asking for you, all of you." She lead them to Duncan's room and let them in.

"Oh, Duncan you stupid ass." cried Courtney as she flung herself at him.

"Ow, hey watch the limbs. It's good to see you too honey." said Duncan. His right arm and leg were in casts and his head and ribs were bandaged, but otherwise the nurse was right.

"Huh, guess they overstated the situation when they called." said Noah, glancing at D.J., who shrugged.

"How're you doing dude." Geoff asked, after Courtney had let go.

"Good. Just some broken bones." said Duncan. "You guys ain't gonna believe what I found. The SUV that was following me had the same plate number as the one that hit Izzy."

"WHAT? You're kidding right?" said Owen.

"No I'm not." said Duncan. "Look, I think there's more to this puzzle than we thought. Since I'm laid up here, you guys gotta figure this out, otherwise we're gonna be stuck in this cycle until we're all either in the hospital or dead."

"You can count on us, eh." said Ezekiel. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

"We'll let you, Lindsey, and Beth know if we find anything." said Gwen.

"Don't worry baby, I will avenge you." said Courtney before leaning over and kissing him.

Duncan bid them farewell and they left. Upon returning to the hotel Courtney went up to her room, where she found another note. It read, _Courtney, you want answers, than meet me in the park at 11:30 tomorrow. I'll tell you everything you want to know. But beware, they will be watching. TL._

**A/N: Well, if you guesses Duncan would be the next one taken out, congratulations you were right. Unfortunatly there is no prize for guessing right, sorry.**


	9. Who is Thomas Locke?

"TL, who the hell is TL?" asked Cody. It was the morning after Duncan's accident and Courtney had just shown them the third note.

"I have no idea." said Courtney with a puzzled look.

"Are we sure this one's even from the same person?" asked LeShawna . "'Cause the other two weren't signed."

"It's from the same person alright. I recognize the handwriting." Courtney replied. "What confuses me is why I was the one who received this one."

"Isn't it obvious?" said Gwen. "Who ever is leaving these notes, left them for Duncan for a reason, and with Duncan temporarily out of the picture, the next logical choice to leave them for would be you, because you're his wife."

"What bothers me is the fact that he, or she, wants to meet with you." said Bridgette. "I mean why now? Why didn't this person just come forward at the beginning instead of playing games?"

"I think playing games is the point, Bridge." said Justin. "If this TL person wanted to be straight with us he would have. I think he's trying to psyche us out and make us more susceptible to attack, or whatever he's planning for us."

"You may be right Justin, but it doesn't change anything." said Courtney. "I'm still going to meet him."

"Courtney you can't be serious?" said Owen. "We don't know who this guy is, what if he hurts you? I mean for all we know he's the psycho behind all this."

"But we're never gonna know unless we find out." said Courtney. "We made a promise to Duncan and I plan on holding to that. We owe it to him, and to Lindsey, Beth, and Izzy to figure this out. Look, if you guys are so concerned about my safety you can come with me, the note doesn't say anything about not bringing backup. But if you're not gonna help than get out of my way cause I'm going whether you like it or not."

The others conceded and together they headed for the park. They would spend the entire day there, waiting for 11:30 to arrive. When it finally did, they found themselves alone, save a short, white haired man in a black suit who seemed to be watching them. For a few moments they just stared, waiting to see what this man would do. Then it hit Owen, he had seen this man before; on the night of Izzy's accident, he had been standing right across the street.

"Gah, I've seen this guy before." Owen shouted. "He was there, the night Izzy was run down, watching us."

"Owen, OWEN!" Geoff shouted, "calm down, look at me. You're sure you've seen him before?"

"Yes!" Owen yelped. "I'm positive. Who are you?" he said, advancing towards the man. "What do you want from us? Why are you hurting my friends?"

The man looked at him a moment before answering, "I do not want anything from you Owen. My name is Thomas Locke and I am here to help you."

"Bullshit!" said D.J. "If you wanted to help us why didn't you come forward sooner? Why did you let four of us get hurt before you asked for a meeting? Is it because you're the one behind this or do you just get some sick pleasure from watching other people suffer?"

"Excellent questions D.J." Thomas replied, "and rest assured I will answer them. I will tell you everything, but you must understand, from here on in, we are all at risk."

"At risk from what exactly?" asked Noah.

"From a man named Dorian McGraver III." Thomas replied.

"Oh shit!" Chris and Chef said together.

"You guys know who he's talking about?" asked Trent.

"They most certainly do." said Thomas, before Chris or Chef could reply. "Dorian McGraver is a friend of their's if I'm not much mistaken?"

"A former friend." growled Chris. "He's a former friend, the slimy, ungrateful piece of shit. We haven't seen him in seven years. He helped us create Total Drama Island, but we had to let him go, after he decided it would be fun to have campers actually die."

"TDI was actually Dorian's idea to begin with." Chef continued. "He, Chris and I were friends in school, and we had always wanted to create a reality show. So we did, but it wasn't exactly what we wanted it to be."

"Wait, wait, hold up. I thought you were in the army?" said Tyler.

"I was." said Chef. "It wasn't till after I'd gotten back that we really got to work on the show. As I said, it was Dorian's idea, well partially. It was his idea to do challenges, it was Chris who came up with the summer camp thing. Dorian comes from a rich ass family and he invested a lot of money in this project, especially in the challenges. But as Chris said he wanted to actually see campers die. The things he had planned make what Chris and I did to you look like a goddamn cakewalk."

"So you guys booted him from his own show." said Harold. "I bet he wasn't happy about that, was he?"

"No, he was uber pissed." said Chris. "But there wasn't a whole lot he could do. He was out voted, two to one. See all three of us had controlling shares in the show. Individually, Dorian could have crushed us, but he couldn't take us both down if we pooled our shares. In the end he just left and took all the funding, so we had to start over from scratch, the bastard."

"So how do you factor into all this?" Gwen asked, eying Thomas.

"I used to work for Dorian's company." Thomas replied. "About a year ago, I heard a rumor that Dorian was going to extract his revenge on Chris and Chef. I couldn't let that happen, especially after I found out how. Dorian knew that Chris and Chef developed a personal relationship with the 22 of you who competed in TDI, and he decided the best way to make them pay was to kill all of you, because that would make them guilty by association, and would drive them to kill themselves."

"Yeah that sounds like something that dick would do." said Chris.

"But why are you helping us?" asked Eva. "You don't even know us."

"I'm helping you because Dorian McGraver deserves to burn in hell." said Thomas. "He took from me the most precious thing in my life, when he had my wife killed, and I will choke on my own blood before I let him do that to anyone else."

"Oh God dude." said Geoff. "I'm really sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry about it." said Thomas. "It's in the past and it can't be changed. What matters now is bringing that bastard down, so he can't do it again."

"So we form an alliance then." said Heather. "We let Thomas in our meetings and he continues to feed us information on Dorian. Chris, Chef, anything you think would help throw that out too, agreed?"

"Agreed." confirmed the others and Thomas.

"Okay, good. Someone should fill Duncan, Lindsey, and Beth in on this, and Izzy too, if she wakes up, God willing." said Heather.

"We'll do it." Courtney said, gesturing at Owen, Tyler, and Cody. Heather nodded.

"Okay, lets head back to the hotel and get started on this plan." said Gwen, and they set off. As they left the park, Gwen thought she saw someone watching them, but she wasn't sure.

On the other side of the park, a black SUV sat waiting. Suddenly a man walked up to the vehicle. "It is done. Locke has allied with them."

"Excellent." said a voice from within the SUV. "Everything is going according to plan."


	10. A Fallen Princess

The following morning Courtney, Owen, Tyler, and Cody went to to hospital to relay the information they had uncovered the night before. They arrived to find Duncan, Lindsey, Beth, and Izzy in the same room. Izzy was still comatose, but the other three seemed to be doing okay.

"What happened here?" Tyler asked. "Why are you all in the same room?"

"We thought it would be easier for security to keep track of us this way." Duncan replied.

"Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense." said Tyler, shrugging.

"So what brings you four by?" asked Beth.

"Well, we have news for you." said Courtney. "We found out who was writing the notes-"

"What?" said Duncan. "You found out who it-"

"Yes!" said Courtney, slightly irritated at being interrupted. "Anyway as I was saying, we found out who was writing the notes. It's a man named Thomas Locke, and we had a nice little chat with him last night, that revealed some pretty startling things."

"Like what?" asked Lindsey.

"Well for starters, Thomas Locke is on our side." said Cody. "We also found out that the man behind this thing is a dude named Dorian McGraver III, who happens to have once been buddies with Chris and Chef."

"Dude, you can't be serious?" said Duncan. "That is way more fucked up than I thought."

"Well fucked up or not, Duncan, it's the truth." said Owen.

"So you talked to this guy, and then what?" asked Beth.

"We formed an alliance with him." said Owen. "Turns out he has a massive grudge against this Dorian guy, cause Dorian murdered his wife."

"Damn dude, that's heavy." said Duncan. "So why is this Dorian guy after us?"

"Cause he used to work with Chris and Chef, even helped them create TDI." said Tyler. "But he got too violent in his plans for the show, so they gave him the boot. Now he wants revenge and he's using us to drive Chris and Chef to kill themselves."

"Shit." said Duncan. "It's the perfect plan too. Chris has already expressed guilt over the four of us being in here. Imagine if one of us was in the morgue instead, how devastated would Chris be then?"

"How devastated would we all be is the better question." said Courtney.

"Look, I'm kinda tired so I think I'm gonna take a nap." said Duncan. "But thanks for keeping us in the loop. We may not be able to help much physically, but at least we can help with plans."

"Yeah, I'll come back later to check up on you." said Courtney. "Get some rest and I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, see ya later honey." said Duncan.

Later that day, Courtney received a phone call from a mysterious source. She had been working with Gwen and Bridgette at the time and ducked out of the room to take the call. A half an hour passed and Courtney did not return. "Huh, that's odd, Courtney's not back yet." said Gwen.

"I wonder what's keeping her?" said Bridgette. "Maybe we should go check on her."

"Nah, it's probably just a long phone call." said Gwen. "She'll be back anytime now." But Gwen was wrong, Courtney never returned. After a full hour had passed Gwen and Bridgette began to get worried. "Okay, maybe we should go look for her." said Gwen. Bridgette nodded and they left the room. Walking down the hall they ran into Katie, Sadie, and Justin.

"Hey, have you guys seen Courtney?" Gwen asked.

"I thought she was with you?" said Katie.

"She was." said Bridgette. "But she left to take a phone call, and she never came back."

"Maybe it was a really long call." Justin suggested.

"Yeah, we thought so too." said Gwen. "But she would have let us know if she wasn't coming back, wouldn't she?"

"I would assume so, but I don't know. Maybe she's still on the phone." said Justin.

Just then, Geoff, Trent, and D.J. walked up. "Hey, why are you guys crowding the hall?" Geoff asked, staring at them.

"We're looking for Courtney. She seems to have disappeared." said Gwen.

"Oh shit, that ain't good." said D.J. "We should split up and look for her." The others agreed and they went their separate ways. After twenty minutes they had still had no luck. Finally Bridgette found her, much to her horror. She let out a scream that brought the others running.

"Bridge, what is it?" asked Geoff as he entered the public restroom. "Did you find-?" Bridgette pointed to the far end of the room. There, in a pool of her own blood, lay Courtney. She had been shot twice in the chest with a small hand gun. "Oh God, Courtney!" said Geoff.

The others pressed in after Geoff. Gwen ran to Courtney's side and checked her pulse. "She's still alive." Gwen cried. "Quick, someone call 911. We need to get her to the hospital now!"

Katie whipped out her phone and frantically dialed, "Help." she cried "there's been a shooting at the Imperial Hotel."

D.J. and Trent ran back upstairs and got the others. "What's happened? We heard a scream, and-" Heather began, but Trent cut her off. "Courtney's been shot." he said.

"Oh God not again." said LeShawna.

"Let's go." said D.J. "Katie's calling 911 and Gwen and Bridge are trying to stabilize her, but she's lost a lot of blood."

They arrived back downstairs to find the paramedics working on Courtney. Bridgette was sobbing in Geoff's arms and Gwen was trying to keep herself together. Katie and Sadie were both on the verge of tears as well and Justin looked stricken. Courtney gave a horrible jolt and began convulsing.

"We're losing her." one of the paramedics said.

"Like hell we are." the other responded. "PADDLES!" With two quick jolts her managed to stabilize her enough so they could move her. The campers cleared a path, and then followed the paramedics to the hospital.

The paramedics burst into the hospital. "We got a bad one here!" one of them shouted. Nurses ran forward to help and Courtney was carted off towards the surgery ward. They passed Duncan, Beth, and Lindsey's room on the way and Duncan caught a glimpse of the action. Cody entered seconds later. "Was that Courtney who just went by?" Duncan demanded.

"Yes, she's been shot." said Cody frantically.

"NO!" shouted Duncan. "She can't be shot. I should've been there."

"She'll be okay Duncan, I promise." said Cody. And with that he left the room, knowing this was one promise he might not be able to keep.

**A/N: Okay so that's chapter 10. I promised things would start heating up and I think they have. What will happen to Courtney now that she has joined the fallen and who will be taken out next? Check back soon to find out!**


	11. Good News

The next day the campers still hadn't heard any word on Courtney. By now Duncan was freaking out. His wife had been shot and to make matters worse, he hadn't been there to protect her, even though the others had told him several times there was nothing he could have done. The level of stress among the campers was at its highest point yet and they were growing more and more anxious by the minute. Finally, sixteen hours after she had been brought in, they got word on Courtney's condition. She was alive, but it had taken an enormous amount of work to save her. Both bullets had punctured her lungs and she lost nearly all of her blood. They were lucky they founder her when they did, a minute longer and she probably would not have survived.

"So where is she now?" asked a frantic Duncan.

"She's in recovery." replied the nurse, who was becoming a familiar face. "She's under heavy sedation right now, so it'll be awhile before any of you can see her."

"Let us know when she's ready." said Bridgette. The nurse nodded and left. "Listen, Duncan we gotta go, were meeting with Thomas in about twenty minutes." said Bridgette.

"That's fine." said Duncan. "I'll call when Courtney's awake." Bridgette nodded and she and the others left. Twenty minutes later, they were in Geoff and Bridgette's room, meeting with Thomas. They told him what happened to Courtney and then got down to business.

"I'm sorry to hear about Courtney." Thomas said. "But this should put into perspective just how serious Dorian is about killing all of you."

"Not sure we needed Courtney to get shot to convince us of the seriousness of the situation, dude." said Geoff. "We kinda figured that out back when Izzy was hurt."

"You still don't trust me, do you?" asked Thomas.

"Well what do you think?" asked Noah. "You're at the scene of every accident, and then you just happen to show up and say you want to help us? I don't know about you, but that kinda screams suspicious to me."

"I can see how you would think that." Thomas replied. "But you must believe that I want to end this just as badly as you do. I was at the scene of each accident, if you still want to call them that, because I was trying to prevent them."

"So why the hell didn't you?" shouted Owen.

"Because I was afraid of exposing myself. Look you must understand that there is a mark on my head too." said Thomas. "Dorian wants me dead just as bad as he wants all of you, and when Dorian wants something he won't rest till he gets it."

Just then, Bridgette's phone rang. She stepped into the bathroom to answer it, emerging a minute later with a smile on her face. "That was Duncan, Courtney's awake." she said beaming at the room.

"Well alright, let's get back down there." said D.J. The others got up excitedly and exited, leaving Thomas alone with Chris and Chef.

"We'll continue this later." Chris said. "Sorry about the-"

"No, I understand." said Thomas. "They need to see their friend, but Chris, we must make them see that they are at risk, and unless they trust me they will die." Chris nodded and he and Chef followed the others out.

Back at the hospital, which was almost a weekly occurrence now, the campers checked in on Courtney, who had been moved in with Duncan, Lindsey, Beth, and Izzy. "Hey, Court, how's it going?" said Geoff.

"I'm doing okay, I guess, considering I have two bullet holes in my chest." Courtney replied. She was hooked up to an IV and had tubes and wires sticking out from under her gown.

"Whoa, what's with the machinery?" asked Tyler.

"They're helping me breath until the skin grafts on my lungs heal." Courtney replied casually. "Cause, you know, it's kinda hard to breath with holes in your lungs."

"Well we're just glad you're okay." said Gwen.

"It's strange though, isn't it?" said Beth, from her bed. "Five of us have been hit now and yet we're all still alive. It's like fate is still on our side."

"Or at least some of it is." said Gwen. "If it all was I'm pretty sure none of you would be here right now."

"Your probably right about that Gwen." said Trent. "Let's just hope that we continue to dodge the bullet."

"Yeah, no kidding." said Duncan. "But we can't rely on luck alone. We need to have a plan in place to prevent this stuff from happening anymore. I want the rest of you to go talk with this Locke guy and find out everything he knows. He can help us and we can trust him."

"How do you know that, you haven't even met the guy?" said D.J.

"I don't need to" said Duncan. "Chris and Chef trust him, I can see it in their eyes. And if they can trust him, we can trust him, got it?" D.J. nodded and the others moved out. An hour later they would be back once again.

They were sitting in Geoff and Bridgette's room, eating dinner when Owen's phone went off. "Now what?" he grumbled, "I'm eating." He answered the phone. "Hello, what do you want?"

"Owen, Owen put your phone on speaker." Duncan's excited voice said.

Without questioning, Owen did. "Guys guess what?" "Duncan?" Tyler said.

"Yeah, it's me." said Duncan's voice. "Now shut up and listen. Get your asses back down here, Izzy's awake." Owen's eyes widened and he dropped his fork. After a few seconds in stunned silence, he tore from the room like a crazed animal. The others quickly followed and they arrived at the hospital in record time.

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I've been kinda busy lately working on my senior thesis, but I'll have some time in the coming weeks to update, so stay tuned.**


	12. The Awakening

Owen exploded into the room, his energy and excitement carrying him. Izzy was sitting up looking hazily around the room. Her eyes fell on Owen and lit up for the first time in weeks. Owen embraced her, tears streaming down his face. "Oh Izzy, I've missed you so much." he sobbed. "I thought I'd lost you, I thought you were gone, but your back and-" he couldn't go on, the emotion was too great. The others stood around them, tears of joy flowing freely, all of them glad to have Izzy back.

After twenty minutes of rejoicing, Owen finally let Izzy go. Izzy smiled as she looked around the room, glad that all her friends were there. After several minutes of silence, Owen asked, "Iz, do you remember what happened?"

"I remember dropping my phone, Eva yelling something, and the SUV, but after that it's all dark and fuzzy." Izzy replied. "What else happened, why am I in the hospital?"

"The SUV hit you." said Eva. "You've been in a coma for the last four weeks."

Izzy looked shocked. "I've been what?" she asked.

"You've been in a coma." Eva repeated. "The impact threw you in the air and you hit the ground hard. Cracked your skull, fractured several of your vertebra, and broke your legs. We've been worried sick about you, didn't know if you'd make it."

"Oh God." said Izzy, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm never gonna walk again, am I?"

"No, no Izzy, you will." said Bridgette. "I talked to the doctor the other day and he said with the proper therapy you'll be good as new."

Izzy sniffed, and smiled slightly. "Thanks Bridgette." she said. Bridgette nodded and smiled. Izzy suddenly noticed the tubes attached to Courtney. "What happened to you Court?" she asked.

"I was shot." Courtney replied.

"Shot?" said Izzy, "by who?"

"We assume by the same people who ran you down." said Noah.

"But that was just an accident, right?" said Izzy, looking at Noah.

"No it wasn't." said Noah. "Turns out there's this guy who wants us all dead. You were just the first one he had taken out. He hit Lindsey, Beth, and Duncan too."

"Oh God." said Izzy. "Have you figured out who it is yet?"

"Yes, but now is not the time for this." said Chris. "You need to rest and re-acclimate to the world. We'll tell you everything tomorrow." Izzy reluctantly agreed and the others left. It appeared as though their luck was finally turning around. Two days after Izzy's awakening Lindsey and Beth were discharged. Neither of them was completely healed, but they were well enough to go home. The campers took a couple days off to relax and enjoy Toronto. But the black cloud was looming and it wouldn't be long before it claimed another victim.

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this up, I was working on my other fics and I kinda forgot to update. Again, sorry about the wait.**


	13. Gwen's Demise

Two weeks after later, the bright light of euphoria still hung in the air. The campers had finally gotten back to work on figuring out how to bring down Dorian, but they still hadn't made much progress. Thomas was doing his best to help, but even with his aid, the quest to end Dorian seemed like a lost cause. Still there were reasons to be happy. Izzy was making progress in her recovery and had had her neck brace permanently removed. Duncan and Courtney were also well on their way to recovery, and Lindsey and Beth were now fully healed. To top it all off, there had been no more attacks on any of them.

"I wonder if he's given up?" said Lindsey, on the fifteenth day after Izzy's awakening.

"I doubt it." Duncan replied. "He's probably just biding his time, waiting for the right moment, ya know?" They were meeting in the hospital now so Duncan, Courtney, and Izzy could be part of the discussions.

"I think Duncan's right." said Thomas. "There's no way Dorian would just give up. It's not in his nature to role over and quit."

"Yeah, well we can hope, right?" said Gwen, glancing at Thomas. They had all grown to trust Thomas over the last two weeks, but Gwen, Duncan, and Trent seemed to have bonded strongest with him.

"I certainly won't tell you not to hope." Thomas said, answering Gwen's question. "But hoping that a problem will go away, rarely makes it go away."

"Sorry, I know we've bugged you to death about this, but were you really a hit man for the mob?" asked Izzy.

Thomas sighed and said, "Yes Izzy, I was really a hit man for the mob. And before anyone asks again, yes that is how I know so much about this stuff."

"Okay, just checking one last time." said Izzy, with a smile.

"Man, I'm hungry." said Owen.

"Owen, you're always hungry" said Heather, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, so, what's your point?" said Owen. "I like food, is that wrong?"

"No, I'm just saying you don't need to tell us what we already know." said Heather.

"Look, can we not do this now?" said Trent. "We're in the middle of important business and we don't really need an argument about food, okay?"

"Okay, sorry." said Owen and Heather together.

"It's fine." said Trent. "But we need to focus. Gwen and I were working on some ideas last night, and we wanted to show you guys today."

"From where I sit it sounded like you two were working on more than just plans last night." said D.J., smirking.

"Dude, shut up." said Trent shaking his head. The others chuckled at this. "Ha, ha, lets all have a laugh at Trent and Gwen's expense." Trent said in a sarcastic tone. He then looked at Gwen and said, "Honey, do you have the notes we took last night?"

Gwen scowled as she searched through her bag. "Oh shit, I don't have them." she said after a moment of searching. "I must have left them in the room." And with that she rushed out of the room and headed back to the hotel. Ten minutes later, Gwen arrived back at the hotel, and headed upstairs to her and Trent's room.

As she entered the room, something heavy caught her in the side of the head. She stumbled and fell, hitting the floor with a thud. She rolled onto her back and saw the man dressed in black, who had been waiting for her. "Shit." she said, "a trap." The man swung the table leg at her head, but she rolled out of the way, and was on her feet before he could react. Gwen threw a hard kick , which connected painfully with the man's head, causing him to drop the table leg. As he went down, she pounced, throwing punches, hoping to keep him down. But he shoved her off into the wall. Before she could react, she felt something sharp pierce her abdomen. Looking down she saw the bloody knife and then felt it enter her flesh twice more. Gwen staggered and collapsed, and the man disappeared. After a few seconds, Gwen pulled herself to her feet, gasping in pain, as blood began filling her lungs. She reached out for the phone, but collapsed again before she could reach it, the corners of her vision going fuzzy.

Back at the hospital, Trent was getting worried. "Where the hell is she?" he shouted, venting his frustration. "She should have been back thirty minutes ago."

"Dude, relax. I bet she's just having a little trouble finding the notes." said Geoff, with a snicker.

"Geoff, shut up." said Bridgette, in an annoyed voice.

"What, I was just joking." said Geoff.

"Yeah, well I'm not in the mood for jokes." snapped Trent. "That's it, I'm going to get her." And he left, arriving at his room a few minutes later. "Gwen?" he asked. "Gwen you still here?" He entered the room and looked around, calling "Gwen? Gwen? Gw-" And then he found her. "Oh God, GWEN!" She was lying on the floor, face down, covered in blood. Trent rushed to her side, lifting her up from the floor. "Gwen?" he asked, in a choked voice.

"T-Trent?" she replied, hazily.

"Yes, yes it's me." Trent said, fighting back the tears. "Don't worry Gwen, I'm gonna take care of you." He picked her up and rushed back down the stairs and then ran, as fast as he could while carrying her, back to the hospital. He burst through the front doors screaming, "Help! Help! Somebody help."

"Trent?" called Owen, poking his head out of the room, "Trent is that you? Do you have-" He stopped short seeing Gwen's bloody body in Trent's arms.

Doctors scrambled to help, as Trent lay Gwen on a stretcher. The others coming out into the hallway, saw Gwen, and freaked. The doctor ripped open Gwen's shirt to examine the wounds. Just then Gwen went into cardiac arrest. "Paddles!" shouted the doctor. "Charging, clear!" Gwen's body jolted, but did not respond. "Damn it, clear!" Again she jolted, but did not respond. By now Trent was sobbing, and the others were beginning to cry as well. After the fifth attempt at revival the doctor called it "Time of death, 3:35 pm."

"NO!" Trent shouted, throwing himself at the doctor. "SHE'S NOT DEAD, SHE CAN'T BE DEAD, TRY AGAIN YOU STUPID BASTARD." D.J. grabbed Trent and pulled him off the doctor.

"Trent, TRENT!" D.J. shouted. "Calm down, let her go my friend , she's gone." As he said this tears leaked out of his eyes as well.

"No, no, no." Trent moaned. The others gathered around him, their heads hung low. Death had finally claimed one of their friends.


	14. Tragedy Strikes

Gwen's death sent a shock wave through the campers and shattered any remaining illusions about a quick and easy exit from this nightmare. Trent shut himself up in his room and drowned himself in his sorrow. The others tried to carry on, but the numbness of the shock kept them from doing anything. Three days after her death, they laid Gwen to rest. Chris had made a few calls and arranged for a funeral at no cost. The funeral was short and they each paid their respects to their fallen sister. Duncan, Courtney, and Izzy were allowed to leave the hospital for the funeral, as they would hear nothing against it. They stood around her, Duncan supported by a crutch, Izzy sitting in a wheelchair, saying words of respect. Trent went last, capping it off with his powerful words of love.

"Goodbye, my beautiful rose." Trent said. "I will never forget the time we had together. You will always be my inspiration, my driving force, my foundation. I love you Gwen and I will miss you always." He leaned down, kissed her cheek and placed a rose in her casket. Her casket was then lowered into the ground and the others began to leave. Finally only Trent was left and he would stand there for awhile.

A few days later Noah and Eva were out for a walk, trying to clear their heads, when eight heavily armed men in black attacked them out of no where. The first two went for Eva, but she sidestepped both of them, grabbing one and smashing his head into the ground.

"Why can't you people just leave us alone?" she screamed. The second attacker lunged at her without answering, but she caught him in the gut with a powerful kick that dropped him. The other six advanced attacking both of them now.

"Oh God, Eva, let's just get out of here." said Noah, in a frightened voice.

But Eva was too busy fighting her attackers to answer. She took down three more of them before a shot rang out. Out of the corner of her eye, Eva saw the bullet strike Noah in the head. "NOAH" she screamed. She grabbed two of the remaining three men and smashed their heads together. The final man lunged, but Eva caught him by the head. With a quick twist, she snapped his neck, killing him instantly. She then ran to Noah's side, knowing it was too late. "Noah, Noah." she sobbed, grabbing him by the shoulders. The bullet had torn straight through his head and killed him instantly.

Several people witnessed the fight and one of them called the police, who arrived on the scene one moment too late. They brought a shell shocked Eva back to the hotel, where she was met by the others. "Eva what happened." asked Chris. "We heard there was a fight in the park but-" he stopped, seeing her face.

"Noah's d-dead." Eva choked out, before dissolving into tears.

"No, not again. This can't be happening." Chris shouted.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God." said Bridgette, turning away from Eva and embracing Geoff.

Owen took hold of Eva and held her as she sobbed, shaking violently from the tears.

"Rah, damn it!" D.J. shouted, punching the wall of the hotel.

Noah's death served to only worsen the depression the campers were now in. Numbed to the core of their souls by the loss of two friends, they sat in a stupor for the next month, unsure if they could go on. The one bright spot in this cloud of darkness was the fact that no one else had been attacked. But this brought little joy to the campers for the last time they went without an attack, two of them were killed. Trent and Eva were now so depressed that they were hardly ever seen. The others had to work extra hard just to get them to open the door, let alone speak, eat, or do anything else. Trent visited the cemetery every day and spent hours standing over Gwen's grave. Unknown to all of them, something strange was brewing under that grave, something that would shock them all.

**A/N: Okay, I know I just killed two campers. But do not fear, we will see Gwen and Noah again, though it might not be what you're expecting. Beware, the story is about to get really weird. **


	15. Buried Alive

She woke up in total darkness, the smell of dirt and polished wood filling her nose. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dark, but she quickly figured out where she was. Her mind was reeling; she remembered the man in black, the knife, Trent finding her, and then some strange white light. She also remembered there had been a lot of blood, not all of it hers. What had happened? Why had there been so much blood? And then she realized, _I was dead. That guy stabbed me and I died. Trent was there, he saw me die, they all did. _She began breathing faster, the shock of realization hitting her. And then she realized something else, her worst fear. _Wait_, she thought,_ I was dead, but now I'm alive, so that means, I'm buried alive!_ She began writhing in the casket, her breathing becoming faster, her heart rate rising, as fear began to take hold. _No, no_, she thought,_ you won't let this beat you. Come on Gwen, you conquered this fear, remember? You can get out of here if you can just figure out how to open the damn casket._ She began banging against the top of the casket, but it wouldn't budge. "Damn it!" she said out loud. "How much dirt did they put on top of me?" She clawed and scraped at the lid, finally breaking through, but dirt came pouring in on top of her. _Oh shit_, she thought, _now what am I gonna do?_

Gwen struggled for several minutes, before she finally managed to free herself enough to begin climbing out of her grave. It took longer than she expected it would, but she finally managed to reach the surface. Gasping and coughing up dirt, she drew in the cool night air. She wondered how long she had been down there, figuring it had to have been at least a couple of days, maybe a week. Her lungs ached from non-use and her eyes stung from the dirt. As she crawled away from the grave, she realized, to her horror, that she was naked. Her clothing must have been eaten by bugs while she was buried. After crawling several feet, she used another headstone to pull herself to her feet. She looked down at herself and saw she was covered in dirt. The cool breeze made her shiver as she made her way out of the cemetery, intent on fining some clothes and food, before heading back to the others.

Gwen wandered around for an hour, before finally finding a bag of discarded clothes. She tore the bag open, an pulled out a pair of dirty, frayed jeans, a plain black t-shirt, some black Converse high tops, and an old army jacket. _I guess this'll have to do_, she thought, _At least Chef will like the jacket._ She also found some food, a shipment of cereal to be exact, but she hadn't eaten in so long she didn't much care what the food was, as long as she could eat it.

The following morning, Trent made his daily trek to the cemetery, this time accompanied by LeShawna and Harold. They arrived to find Gwen's grave torn apart. "Oh, God." said Trent. "Her body's gone."

"No!" said LeShawna, with a horrified look. "Who the hell would do something like this?"

"Some extremely sick fuckers, that's who." said Harold.

"No, no, NO!" shouted Trent. "I just wanted her to rest in peace. Why would someone do this? Why would they dig her up and take her body?" He descended into tears, shaking violently, rage and sorrow pouring out of him.

LeShawna knelt down next to Trent. "It's gonna be okay sugar." she said. "We'll find out who did this and we'll make them pay." She and Harold lead Trent back to the hotel.

Geoff and Bridgette greeted them, and could immediately sense something was wrong. "What happened?" Geoff asked, a concerned look on his face.

"Someone tore apart Gwen's grave." said Harold. "Her body's been taken."

"Oh, God" said Bridgette, clapping her hands to her mouth, looking just as horrified as LeShawna had.

They made there way upstairs where the told the others what had happened. "That is so not right." said Tyler, a disgusted look on his face.

"I don't understand why someone would do such a thing." said Katie, who was close to tears. Sadie nodded in agreement.

"Did it ever occur to any of you that the reason someone would tear apart a grave like that, is because they were trying to dig their way out?" asked a oddly familiar voice from the shadows.

"Who's there?" asked Heather. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm an old friend, back for another adventure." said th mysterious stranger.

"This is no time for jokes!" said D.J. "Who the hell are you? Show yourself."

After a two second pause, Gwen stepped into the light. The others stared at her, dumbfounded by what they were seeing. Was it really her, had she really come back?

"Is, is this real?" Owen asked, walking up to Gwen, and pinching her.

"Ow! Owen, I'm real." said Gwen.

Trent stared at her in wonder, his eyes slightly glazed. "G-Gwen?" he whispered. "Gwen is it really you? Are you really back?"

"Yes Trent, I'm really back." Gwen replied, advancing towards him.

"But-but, how? You were dead, I saw you die and-" Trent began, but Gwen cut him off. "I don't know how. I just woke up and-" Trent embraced her before she could finish, tears of joy streaming down his face. "Oh Gwen," he sobbed, "I missed you so much."

The others stood in silence, watching the joyful reunion, many of them crying as well. The shock of having Gwen back pushed every thing else aside, even their sorrow for Noah. In the midst of the reunion, Chris made a call to the hospital to let Duncan, Courtney, and Izzy know the good news. Gwen finally pulled herself away from Trent and asked, "So how long was I gone?"

"A little over a month." said Cody, a slight bit of sorrow mixed in with his joy. Gwen noticed this and asked, "What's wrong Cody, why the long face?"

"You're not the only one we lost." Cody replied, sadly.

"What? Who else is gone?" asked Gwen, with a puzzled look.

"Noah was shot a few days after you died." replied Cody.

"Oh God." said Gwen, looking at Eva. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could have been there."

"It's not your fault Gwen." Eva replied. "There was nothing you could have done. We were ambushed and I managed to take them down, but I wasn't fast enough. I just wasn't-" she stopped, the memory of that day still too painful for her.

After hearing this, Gwen turned to face them all, her eyes blazing with fury. "Alright." she said, in a commanding voice. "We know this threat is real. We know Dorian is serious about killing us. I now know what that feels like. We have lost too much to this bastard already, but now it's his turn. We are going to make him taste his own blood, we are going to throw him into the fires of hell, and we are going to make him understand the true meaning of pain."

**A/N: Okay, yes I brought Gwen back from the dead, but I did warn you this was going to get weird, didn't I? If you want to know how she came back check back in a few days to find out, I'll reveal in a few chapters.**


	16. The Enemy's Face

The others were inspired by Gwen's passionate revenge speech. Seeing how she had mysteriously come back from the dead, they had little reason to doubt her desire. They contacted Thomas the following day and arranged a meeting with him for that afternoon, at the hospital. Thomas was shocked and delighted that Gwen was back, as he knew the more of them there were, the better their chances were. Thomas had an unexpected surprise for them when they met, one that would lead them to begin questioning his true motives.

They arrived at the hospital at 2:30 pm, ten minutes before the scheduled meeting. Entering the now familiar room, they were greeted by cheers from Duncan, Courtney, and Izzy, who were overjoyed to see Gwen again.

"Welcome back to the world of the living." said Duncan, with a nod at Gwen. Courtney and Izzy simply beamed, too happy for words.

"Thanks guys. It's good to be back." said Gwen.

Just then, Thomas popped in, seemingly from nowhere. He had a smile on his face and held a piece of paper in his hand. "I really wish you wouldn't do that Houdini thing, it freaks me out." said Trent.

"Sorry about that. I like to make an entrance." said Thomas, with a grin. "But no one makes an entrance like Gwen here. Coming back from the dead, that's a new one."

"Yeah, I bet it is." said Gwen, smiling.

"Hey, what's with the piece of paper dude?" asked Geoff, looking at Thomas.

"Oh this." said Thomas, gesturing with the paper. "This is a bad idea."

"How is a piece of paper a bad idea?" scoffed Heather.

"A piece of paper is a bad idea, my dear," replied Thomas, "when it is an invitation to meet with the man who is trying to kill you."

"Wait, crazy old ex-mob guy say what?" asked LeShawna.

"I said, this is an invitation to meet with Dorian, written by Dorian himself." said Thomas.

"Why in God's good name would that psychopath want to meet with us?" said Justin. "I thought you said he'd never give up?"

"I did, but that's not the reason why he wants to meet." said Thomas. "He wants to meet because it's a damned trap. I think he's growing tired of trying to kill you on an individual base, and he's decided to take you all out in one fell swoop."

"Well, that's just spectacular. Just fucking great." said Duncan. "Does he think we're fucking stupid?"

"I think he's counting on that, yes." said Thomas. "But he underestimates you, just as he underestimated me. He does not see the strength that you posses. If he did, he'd stop sending weak minions after you and would start using his assassins."

"Wait, he has assassins?" asked Duncan. "Like real assassins?" Thomas nodded. "Well okay, I ain't excepting the fucking invitation." said Duncan.

"Now hold on Duncan." said D.J. "He may have assassins, but we have the element of surprise. I say we go, and if it is a trap, we can just fight our way out."

"That's a spectacular idea, D.J." said Duncan, sarcastically. "Yeah, a fucking wonderful, well thought plan that'll get us all killed." D.J. glared at Duncan, obviously irritated by his lack of support.

"I think Duncan's right." said Thomas. "It is a trap, and we should not take the bait."

"I don't know man, I kinda agree with D.J." said Geoff. "I think we should go."

"Okay, we'll put it to a vote." said Chris. "Everyone who agrees with Duncan and Thomas, raise your hand." Duncan, Thomas, Gwen, Trent, Courtney, Chef and Chris raised their hands. "Okay everyone who agrees with D.J." Everyone else raised their hands. "Well, that settles it. Looks like we're going." Chris sighed.

Several hours later, they found themselves standing outside a large, foreboding black mansion with huge wrought iron gates. Two heavily armed guards stood on either side of the gate, waiting for them to arrive. "Man, I got a bad feeling about this." said Duncan. He, Courtney, and Izzy had come along, despite the fact that they were not completely healed. Izzy was no longer wheelchair bound, but still relied upon a walker for support, and Courtney still had breathing problems, on account of her partially healed lungs. But they had refused to stay out of the action any longer.

"I'm starting to agree with you man." D.J. whispered, as they passed through the gates and were led to the doors of the mansion.

They entered to find a tall man, with dark hair and a thin beard waiting for them. He was dressed in a black suit and carried a cane. He smiled as they entered and said, "Welcome, my name is Dorian McGraver III."


	17. Another One Falls

"I trust your journey was a safe one." Dorian said, with a smile.

"Uh, not to be rude or anything, but why exactly do you care?" asked Gwen. "Aren't you trying to kill us?"

"Oh, yes, I am." Dorian replied. "I was simply being polite."

"After what you've done to us I don't buy that bullshit." said Gwen.

"Excuse me, but aren't you supposed to be dead?" asked Dorian. "I distinctly remember being told that you had died." "Or was that Noah?" he added, smirking.

"Get bent you psychotic fuck." snarled Eva.

"Oh, temper, temper." said Dorian. "I think someone needs to be put back in the zoo."

Eva's eyes widened with rage. "What did you say?" she shouted. "I'll fucking kill you with my bare hands, you bastard." And she lunged at Dorian, before anyone could stop her.

"Eva, NO!" shouted Izzy, but it was too late.

Eva was on top of Dorian, punching him in the face, screaming, "I'll kill you, I'LL KILL YOU!" Guards came running in and attacked, two of them beating Eva with nightsticks. Other guards went after the others, who scattered.

"Well, you were right about this being a bad idea." Geoff said to Duncan, as they ran outside. "We all should've known."

"Yeah, well too late now." said Duncan. Most of them made it out to the street, but the guards caught Bridgette, Harold, and LeShawna.

"Geoff, help!" Bridgette screamed.

"Oh, God Bridgette." said Geoff, turning back towards the mansion.

"Geoff, what are you doing?" Duncan bellowed. "Leave her, we can't help her now."

"I won't leave without her." Geoff shouted. "Go on, I'll be fine." And he ran back into the mansion, where guards took him down immediately. Duncan had time to see Geoff fall, before he was forced to move.

Several guards chased them down the road, back to the bridge they had crossed to get to the mansion. As they crossed, that familiar black SUV came roaring towards them. It slammed into Heather, throwing her over the side of the bridge. "HEATHER!" Lindsey and Beth screamed, but there was no way of getting to her. Thomas drew a gun and fired, hitting the SUV in the left front tire, sending it veering off the bridge as well.

They finally made it back to the hospital, where they collapsed from exhaustion. Courtney, gasping for air due to her injured lungs, grabbed a tank of oxygen and began sucking it down. The shock of what had just happened washed over them. Thomas had been right, it had been a trap from the beginning. "Where-where's Geoff and Bridgette?" Gwen gasped, between breaths.

"Bridgette was grabbed, Geoff went back for her and he didn't get out." said Duncan. "They got Harold and LeShawna too."

"What about Heather?" asked Beth. "Shouldn't we go back and look for her?"

"I'm not going back there, not tonight." said Duncan. "If she survived the fall, then hopefully she can make it back on her own. If not, then we can look for her tomorrow, when we have more light. But we may have to face the fact that she's gone." He shivered as he said this, greatly disliking the prospect.

"She may have survived." said Tyler, doubt in his voice.

"Yes, she may have." confirmed Thomas. "But Duncan is right, we may have to face the fact that Heather is more than likely dead." He too shivered at the thought.

And so, as dawn approached the campers sat, realizing that they were now down five more. Heather's fate seemed to be sealed, but as to what Bridgette, Geoff, Harold and LeShawna were enduring, they could not be sure.


	18. An Unexpected Return

Gwen awoke in her bed at the hotel. The events of the previous night still swam in her head, as though they were happening that very moment. She looked at the clock; it was 2:30 in the afternoon. She did not remember returning to the hotel, but guessed they must have sometime early in the morning.

Sliding out of bed, she glanced at Trent, who was still asleep, wondering for a second what it was like for him not to have her there. She did not dwell on the thought, as she had more pressing issues to worry about, namely finding a way to get Bridgette, Geoff, Harold, and LeShawna out of Dorian's compound. She knew it would not be easy, but it had to be done, they could not be left there to die. The question was, how? How to get them out without getting caught herself? And then there was the issue of Heather. Gwen felt certain Heather was still alive, but she had no idea where to even begin looking for her. She sat, musing over these dilemmas, trying to figure out a plan.

Gwen was drawn from her reverie by the sound of Trent stirring. "What time is it?" he asked, sleepily.

"Almost three in the afternoon." Gwen replied. "We must have come back to the hotel sometime early this morning."

"Yeah." said Trent. Yawning, he climbed out of bed and walked over to her. He placed his arms around her waist and pulled her close. The warmness of his skin felt good, almost soothing. For a moment, she forgot about the seriousness of the situation they were in, but it passed, her determination to save the others overriding her desire for sex.

"We have to save them, Trent." she said. "We have an obligation to do it, they'd do the same for us."

"We will Gwen, we will." Trent replied. "Nothing bad will happen to them, I promise." He noticed she was shaking slightly, and looking down, saw that she was crying. He held her close, comforting her, knowing full well that he may not be able to keep his promise.

An hour later, they met Chris, Chef, D.J., Lindsey, Beth, Tyler, Cody, Justin, Katie, Sadie, Owen, Eva, and Ezekiel in the lobby. They were heading back to the hospital, this time to formulate a plan to save Geoff, Bridgette, Harold, and LeShawna. Thomas would be at the meeting as well. They arrived at the hospital, to find Thomas already there, waiting with Duncan, Courtney, and Izzy.

"So, I think it's fair to say last night was a disaster." said Cody.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." said Sadie. "We were all there, remember?"

"Okay, would you two shut up." snapped Gwen. "We don't have time to sit around and jabber like idiots. Four of our friends are being held captive by a psycho who is doing God knows what to them."

"Gee sorry." said Cody. "I suspect you have a plan?"

"Well no, not really." Gwen admitted, "I was hoping to generate some ideas from this discussion, you know, maybe come up with a plan together."

"Sorry Gwen." said Izzy. "But I just don't see how we can pull this off. I mean, let's face it, Dorian's place is a lot more fortified than we thought it would be, so we can't just walk in the front door. We could try the back, but that still probably wouldn't work."

"So what, we're just supposed to let them die?" asked Gwen. "Cause that seems like a shitty idea to me."

"I'm not saying that." said Izzy. "But they knew the risks, just like we all did, and sometimes sacrifices must be made."

"Well that's just great Izzy." said Gwen, shaking with rage. "You make this sound like it's a goddamn war or something, and then act all nonchalant about it."

"It seems to me you could use someone with brains in this operation." said a voice from outside the room. "And incidentally, Gwen, this is a war. I would think that dying would have opened your eyes to that reality."

"Uh, excuse me, this is a private conversation." said Gwen. "Only former TDI contestants are allowed to be here. And just who are you, anyway?"

"Who am I?" asked the voice. "It's funny you should ask that, as well as bringing up the TDI thing, cause you see, I was on TDI." And with that, Noah stepped into the room, a sly smirk crossing his face.

The others gasped, Cody stumbling backwards, at the sight of their favorite cynic. Eva rushed forward, tears in her eyes. "Noah, is it really you?" she asked.

"Yes, it's really me." he replied. "Like Gwen, I've somehow come back, and it seems to me I've come back at the right time."

"I won't even begin to ask how, I'm just glad that you are." said Justin. And they told him the story of everything that had happened since his death. Noah listened silently, observing them all, and formulating a plan in his head.


	19. Trapped!

At that same moment, deep within the confines of Dorian's mansion, Geoff was chained to the wall in a large dungeon like room. Electrodes were jammed into his flesh, and he was bleeding from a cut on his forehead. His right eye was swollen shut, and he had multiple cuts and bruises on his chest, arms, and legs. "Now, I'm going to ask you one last time." snarled Dorian. "What are you and your friends planning? What do those traitors McLean and Hatchet want from me?"

Geoff, wavering on the edge of unconsciousness, steadied himself, and looked Dorian in the eye. "Stick it, you sick bastarrrrrrh-." He let out a scream as another blast of electricity jolted through him.

"Bring them in." Dorian ordered. Several guards left the room, returning seconds later with Bridgette, Harold, and LeShawna, who had all been roughed up as well. Dorian motioned for Bridgette to be brought forward. He grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head back, and placed a knife at her throat. "I've given you chances to tell me the truth, but since torture doesn't seem to work, let's see if murder does." Geoff looked terrified, but Bridgette looked at him, a calm expression on her face.

"Don't tell him anything." she breathed.

"It's your choice, Geoff." said Dorian. "Either tell me the truth, or she dies."

Geoff hesitated, before muttering, "I'll tell you, we're planning to welcome you back to the show."

Dorian released Bridgette and advanced towards Geoff. "Lies!" he shouted, twitching his hand, and Geoff was blasted with another shock.

"Please let him go, you're killing him." Bridgette pleaded, tears in her eyes.

"Tell me the truth, and I'll let him down." said Dorian. "I assure you, I am a man of my word."

"Don't do it Bridge, don't do it." whispered LeShawna. But Bridgette had no choice, she couldn't let them keep torturing Geoff.

"The truth is, we're trying to bring you down." she said, looking at Dorian. "We are planning to tear your company down and end your life." It wasn't entirely true, but it was good enough. Dorian signaled for Geoff to be released. He then turned and shot Bridgette in the chest.

"NO!" Geoff shouted. Bridgette's eyes widened, and she collapsed, hitting the floor with a thud. Dorian and his men left, leaving the four of them in the room. Geoff crawled over to Bridgette, who was motionless. Geoff shook his wife slightly, but she did not move. She lay spread eagle, her eyes still open and glassy; she was dead. Geoff stared down at his wife, to numb with shock to cry.

Harold and LeShawna crawled over to him, LeShawna placing an arm around his shoulder. "Geoff?" she asked, hesitantly. "Geoff are you okay?"

He looked at her, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Why?" he asked, "Why Bridgette? Why couldn't he have shot me?"

"I don't know sugar." said LeShawna. "I don't know. Listen, Bridgette would want you to be strong, she would want you go on. She-" LeShawna broke down and began crying, as did Geoff. Harold, sat in numb disbelief, his head in his hands. Suddenly Bridgette gave a shuddering gasp, that made the three of them jump.

"Bridgette?" said Geoff, looking at her. "Bridgette, you're alive!"

Coughing, she rolled to her side and said in a horse whisper, "Of course I'm alive, thanks to you." She pulled out the triable sun necklace Geoff had given her on their wedding night. It was dented from the bullet.

"How did you know that was gonna work?" asked LeShawna, astonished.

"I didn't." said Bridgette. "He could have shot me in the head, but I was lucky. I figured he would double cross us somehow, and I just hoped he aimed for my chest."

"You're extremely lucky." said Harold. "There was a one in a million chance that he would shoot you in that exact spot, or that he would have shot you at all. He could've shot me or LeShawna."

"He wanted to show Geoff he was serious." said Bridgette. "That's why he shot me. Look we need to figure out a way to get out of here. I say we devise a plan and when the guards come back we implement it." The others agreed, and they spent the next six hours planning their escape. Finally the guards came back, and they sprang, taking them down with relative ease.

Now outside of their cell, the four made their way through the labyrinth of passageways that lay beneath Dorian's mansion. After several minutes they found the stairs that lead back to the surface. "We gotta be careful." said Harold, as they climbed the stairs. "There's probably more guards at the top." Sure enough, Harold was right, there were more guards at the top, lots of them.

They managed to fight their way through the crowd, but just as they reached the front door, Harold was struck in the head and went down. The other three made it outside and ran for the gate. They did not have time to go back for Harold; the guards were shooting at them, trying to take them down. As they approached the gate, Bridgette screamed in pain, as a bullet ripped through her right knee, shattering the kneecap. Geoff grabbed her and they made it through the gates and into the street. The guards did not pursue them, leaving them free to run. After making it back across the bridge, they collapsed on the side of the road, exhausted from the escape. Bridgette's knee was messed up, and she was unable to put any weight on it. After resting for several minutes, Geoff got to his feet. "Let's get moving." he said. "We'll regroup with the others and then we can rescue Harold." he added, catching LeShawna's eye.

"Right." she said. "Right now we need to get Bridge to the hospital." Geoff nodded and they set off, hoping to make it back by sunrise.


	20. Gwen's Secret

At that same moment, Gwen lay asleep in her bed. She and Trent had gone to bed after hours of debating strategy with the others. They had come up with an intricate plan to save Bridgette, Geoff, Harold, and LeShawna, not knowing that three of them had already escaped. The plan was risky, and Gwen knew it, but that was not what was bothering her at the moment. Ever since she had come back from the dead, she had been plagued with images in her head. She had finally figured out what they meant, but she was still troubled by them. More to the point, she was troubled by how she was going to explain to the others how she, and most likely Noah too, had come back. Unable to sleep soundly, she got up and went for a walk, consumed in her thoughts.

_How am I going to tell them the truth?_ she thought. _How do you tell someone that the only reason you're back from the dead is because the Angel of Death put your soul back in your body, and you only have a limited time before he takes it back out?_

Gwen was so consumed in her thoughts, she did not notice that she had wandered to the hospital. She walked inside and checked on Duncan, Courtney and Izzy. They were all sleeping peacefully, well as peacefully as one can in a hospital. She watched them sleep for a few minutes, before leaving. As she headed for the door, Geoff, Bridgette, and LeShawna suddenly came bursting through. Geoff carried Bridgette in his arms, and all three of them looked pretty torn up.

"Oh my God!" Gwen screamed, seeing them. "What the hell did that sick fuck do to you?"

"Tortured Geoff, shot Bridge." panted LeShawna, as she collapsed into a chair.

"Can we get some help over here?" Gwen shouted. Several nurses rushed forward to aid the battered campers. Gwen saw Bridgette's knee, as Geoff laid her on a stretcher, and gasped in horror. Her knee was shattered, and bleeding profusely. It looked like a bullet had torn through it.

Gwen looked at Geoff, concerned, and asked, "Was she shot in the knee?" Geoff shook his head yes. Gwen could tell he didn't feel like talking at the moment, so she dropped it. She helped the nurses get the three of them into care, and then roused Duncan, Courtney, and Izzy. They called and woke the others, and yet another meeting was held at the hospital.

"So, Harold's still in there?" Cody asked. It was the next morning and they were gathered in the main room. LeShawna and Geoff were there, both hooked to ivs. They had been patched up, but would both be spending a few days at the hospital. Bridgette was there as well, but she was out of it, due to the drugs she was on for the pain. Her knee was heavily bandaged, and supported by a heavy brace. Doctors had been able to save it, but it would be awhile before she would walk again.

"Yes, Harold's still in there." LeShawna sieged, answering Cody's question. She was not crying, but they could all tell it was difficult for her, knowing her man was still held captive by a psychotic killer.

"Don't worry, LeShawna, we'll get him out." Izzy said, reassuringly. "We were gonna bust you all out but you beat us to the punch. Noah had a complex rescue op all planned, and-"

"Yeah, speaking of Noah, I noticed you're back from the dead too." Geoff said, cutting Izzy off and looking at Noah.

"Yes, it is a mystery to me how and why though." Noah replied.

"Does it matter how or why either of you are back?" Trent asked. "I mean, can't you just be back and leave it at that?"

"There has to be a reason Trent." said Noah. "People don't just come back for no reason, otherwise people would be crawling out of their graves left and right, and there would be mass terror in the streets."

"There is a reason." said Gwen, not looking at the others.

"Wait, could you repeat that?" said Chris. "I could've sworn I just heard you say there is a reason why you two came back."

"I did." Gwen said, looking at Chris. "I figured it out shortly after I came back. We were sent, sent back to ensure that Dorian goes down."

"Whoa, wait, hold up. Sent by who exactly?" asked D.J., looking nervously at Gwen.

"David Luminous." Gwen replied, calmly.

"Wait, you're telling us that you and Noah were sent back to us by the Angel of Death?" asked Trent. "And you've known all along, but didn't tell us?"

"Yes." said Gwen. "And I didn't tell you cause I didn't know how. I mean, if it was you, would you have any clue how to tell the people you love that you were brought back by the Angel of Death, knowing they would think you were crazy? And how do you know who David Luminous is anyway?"

"Everyone knows who David Luminous is." replied Trent, almost shouting. "And I guess you're right, it would be difficult to tell someone that, but still, we can't keep secrets like that. That's how the group starts to get broken up; mistrust destroys unity."

"Excuse me, not to be a downer or anything, but if you were brought back by Luminous, doesn't that mean it's only temporary?" asked Izzy.

"He was not clear on that aspect." said Gwen. "But I would assume so, that is usually how it works. Look, can we not focus on this anymore, we need to concentrate on saving Harold, and finding Heather." The other's agreed, but the weight of what they had just learned hung over them like a cloud of acid rain.

**A/N: So that's chapter 20. I bet you're thinking what the fuck did this guy smoke before he wrote this? Right? Well I didn't smoke anything, I'm just a little weird like that. I did warn you by the way, twice, if memory serves. Anyway, David Luminous is my own personal interpretation of the Angel of Death and we will be seeing him again. And I promise everything will be explained by the end. btw, Luminous and what he does are why this fic is catogorized as supernatural.**


	21. Through The Eyes Of Evil

At that very moment, as the others planed how to save him, Harold sat alone in the cell that, only hours earlier, he had shared with LeShawna, Geoff, and Bridgette. He did not know if they had made it back to the hotel, he didn't even know if they had made it out of the compound alive. All he did know, was he was now alone, and though he understood why they had not come back for him, he could not help feeling a little resentment towards them. He sat, staring at the walls, for what seemed like eternity, before the door opened and Dorian entered, alone.

"What d'you want?" he asked glumly, watching Dorian suspiciously. "If you're here to torture or kill me, just get it over with, I'm tired of games."

"I just want to talk, like civilized men." Dorian replied.

"Huh, civilized? You expect me to believe that a man like you is capable of being civilized?" scoffed Harold.

"I assure you, I am far more civilized than you, my gangly little friend." Dorian replied.

Harold glared at him before answering. "I'm not your friend." he said, coldly.

"Oh come now, Harold, let's try to be adults and have a conversation." said Dorian, smirking.

"You know, I think I've figured it out." said Harold abruptly. "I think I've figured out why you are the way you are."

"I've been psychoanalyzed before, boy." snapped Dorian. "By your dear friend Thomas, in fact. He did quite a remarkable job, I must say."

"Yeah, he told us about that." said Harold. "But, see, I think I have a better grasp on your personality than Thomas did."

"You do, do you?" said Dorian, with an evil grin. "And what makes you think that? You hardly know me."

"I have a very good eye for these things." said Harold.

"Alright, if you're so good then get on with it. Analyze me." said Dorian. "What makes me, me?" he added, with another smirk.

"Well if I had to guess, I'd say you were abused as a child." said Harold. "You were abused, and ignored, and you hated it. The other kids always picked on you, even though you were rich. I'm guessing your father never payed any attention to you, and your mother was too hard on you. You were beaten whenever you did something wrong, and you were beat up at school too. But you still had your dream, your dream of creating a reality show, in which you killed people. But Chris and Chef took that away, and without that outlet to unleash your fury, you turned it inward and then unleashed it back upon the world. Am I close?"

Dorian glared at Harold a moment, before answering. "Yes, you are. But I've noticed something about you, Harold. Your dying, aren't you, from a brain tumor perhaps? That's why you've been forgetting things lately, that's why you can't remember."

"Yes, it's true." said Harold, defiantly. "I have a brain tumor, and it is killing me. Haven't told anyone, I didn't want them to worry."

"How very kind of you." said Dorian, in a mocking tone. "I'll tell you what, Harold, I'll let you go, if you promise me you'll never tell anyone I admitted to you the truth about my life."

"I don't understand." said Harold. "You're willingly letting me go, when you know that keeping me here is more advantageous to you? It doesn't make sense."

"Do not question my motives, boy." snapped Dorian. "You are dying anyway. Better to let nature take its course and save myself the mess. Now get out." Without questioning him further, Harold quickly left the mansion, pausing to look back at Dorian, who was standing in the door way.

Dorian waved Harold goodbye, as though they were old friends who had just had a few drinks. "Farewell Harold." he said. "Enjoy your last days on Earth."

**A/N: The title of this chapter refers to Harold's analyzation of Dorian. He is looking through the eyes of evil to see what makes Dorian the way he is.**


	22. Heather's Fate

Heather came to, gasping, as she hacked up water that had been filling her lungs. She was lying on the bank of a river, half buried in mud. She tried to sit up, but a searing pain in the back of her head nearly made her vomit. She felt her head, and found dried blood crusted to her hair. _What the hell happened? _she thought. _Where the hell am I? _And then she remembered, _The SUV! It hit me and I went over the side of the bridge. I should be dead. Why am I not dead? How did I survive that fall?_ A sudden rush anxiety flooded over her, if she wasn't dead, then where was she? She tried to sit up again, succeeding this time, but she still felt dizzy. _Okay, Heather, you can do this, _she thought, _you can get out of here. Just take a couple of deep breaths and relax, everything will be fine. _She drew in two long, steady, calming breaths, and then tried to stand. Searing pain shot through her left leg as she moved and she looked down to see what the problem was. What she saw horrified her. The bone was broken and was jabbing out of her thigh.

For a moment, Heather sat in shock, unsure what to do. Then, as reason returned to her, she took hold of her injured leg, and, as slowly as possible, pushed the bone back in. She grunted in pain as she did this, fighting to hold back the tears that were trying to escape. Once the bone was back in, she made a splint for herself, just like Harold had taught her six years ago. After stabilizing her leg, she slowly pulled herself to her feet, and began limping along the river, hoping she was going in the right direction.

Heather walked for six hours before collapsing from exhaustion. She was beginning to slip into shock, her body shutting down from dehydration. She crawled to the river, and began to drink, trying to stay awake. The coolness of the water caused her to retch and vomit up the few berries she had eaten hours earlier. Shaking, she rolled onto her back, her vision becoming blurry as the shock took hold. As she passed out, she caught a glimpse of something moving towards her. _Good,_ she thought, _at least I'll die quick._

Heather came to once again, this time lying in a warm bed, beside a crackling fire. Her head was pounding, and her leg felt like it was being chewed off. The smell of something cooking hit her nose, making her gag. She shook her head, to clear her vision, and noticed she was in a small, one room cabin. As she looked around the room, she caught sight of a short, thin young woman with long white-blond hair. The woman seemed to have noticed her too.

"Oh good, you're awake." she said, moving over to Heather's side.

"W-what happened? Where am I? Who are you?" Heather asked.

"My name is Abigail Locke, this is my home." the woman said. "I found you in the woods, you were dying of dehydra- what?" She caught sight of the look on Heather's face.

"Did you just say your name is Abigail Locke?" Heather asked.

"Yes." Abigail replied. "I don't see how that's relevant?"

"I know your father." said Heather, trying not to sound stuck up.

"Wait, what?" asked Abigail. "You know my father? But you can't know him, he's dead."

"No." said Heather. "No he isn't. He's alive and he's been helping my friends and I in our efforts to bring down Dorian McGraver III."

Abigail stared at Heather in disbelief for a moment before responding. "I-I didn't know. I thought he was killed with my mother."

"No, he wasn't." said Heather. "He survived, but he thought you were dead, thought you had been killed too."

"No, my mother told me to run, told me to hide. So I ran into the woods and I hid. But she never came for me. I've been out here ever since." said Abigail. "It's been eighteen years."

As Heather stared at this tragic, fragile young woman, her head gave a particularly painful throb. She clutched her head and winced. The movement brought Abigail out of her reverie. "Oh, sorry." she said, smiling. "Let's get you patched up. By the way, you can call me Abby."

Several hours later, Heather asked the question she had been dying to ask all day. "Abby, when are we going to head back to the city. I need to let the others know I'm alive."

"We'll go tomorrow." Abigail replied. "It's getting dark out, and I don't want you wandering around in the dark in your condition." Heather nodded, agreeing with Abigail.

The following morning they set out on their way towards town. The journey was slow, due to Heather's injured leg, but they finally made it to Toronto. They made their way to the hospital, as Heather knew that was where the others would be, if they weren't already out looking for her. As they walked across town, they ran into Harold, who had just made it back to Toronto as well.

"Harold?" Heather asked. "What are you doing out here?"

"Heather!" Harold exclaimed, excitedly. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I was knocked off the bridge leading to Dorian's house while we were escaping. Where were you?" Heather replied.

"I was being held prisoner by Dorian." said Harold. "Bridgette, Geoff, and LeShawna were with me but they escaped. Dorian let me go."

"What?" said Heather, surprised. "That madman actually did something good?"

"Yeah, I don't understand it either." said Harold. "Who's she?" he added, noticing Abigail.

"She's Thomas' daughter Abigail." said Heather. Abigail and Harold exchanged greetings and they continued on, arriving at the hospital a few minutes later, just as Chris, Chef, Gwen, Noah, Trent, D.J., Eva, Beth, Owen, and Tyler came out. The two groups stopped dead, staring at one another for a moment, before exploding into joyful reunions. They all came back inside, screaming and yelling.

"What the hell is going on?" Duncan said, limping out of his room. "I thought you guys were going to start-" he stopped, seeing Harold and Heather. A smile cracked his face and he hugged Harold, not caring what the others would say. "Dude, LeShawna's gonna be so happy." he said.

Harold smiled and followed Duncan into the room, where Justin, Cody, Katie, Sadie, Lindsey, Ezekiel, Geoff, Bridgette, LeShawna, Izzy, and Courtney sat. Thomas was there as well. LeShawna nearly screamed when she saw Harold, and Katie and Sadie let out squeals of joy. While the reunion celebration commenced, and stories were traded, medical personal took care of Heather and Harold. Finally several hours later, after Heather's surgery was over and things had calmed down a bit, Heather made one last introduction.

"I have a surprise for all of you." she said, coherently, despite the pain meds. "I would like to introduce Miss Abigail Locke, Thomas' daughter."

Abigail entered, and Thomas nearly collapsed. Father and daughter stared at one another for a moment, before embracing, tears flowing from both of them. The campers watched, in joyful awe as this reunion unfolded, knowing all too well that this high wouldn't last long.


	23. Silence

A week later the euphoria of reunion still hung in the air. It seemed as if nothing could kill the good feelings welling inside of the former campers. On the surface they had little reason to believe that the darkness would return. Gwen and Noah were back from the dead, Bridgette, Geoff, Harold, LeShawna, and Heather were all safe, Izzy and Courtney were making satisfactory progress in their recoveries, and Thomas had been reunited with his daughter. Despite all of this, the dark cloud was looming. There were still unresolved issues and unanswered questions, the most pressing being when would Dorian strike next? Also on the minds of the campers was the question of how long Gwen and Noah would remain in the world of the living. And Harold still had yet to tell the others about his cancer. Some were more mindful of the returning darkness than others. Gwen, in particular, was well aware that their troubles were far from over. She was not alone in this feeling; Duncan, Trent, Izzy, Noah, Eva, Chris, Chef, Thomas, and Abigail felt it too.

"Man, I got a bad feeling." said Trent, a week after the reunion. "It's been too quiet, ya know? The silence from Dorian's end is freaking me out." They were gathered at the hospital, as usual.

"Dude, lighten up." said Owen. "We've had longer breaks between attacks than this."

"True." said Izzy. "But Trent is right, something doesn't feel right about this. It feels like something really bad is about to happen."

"Are you guys sure you're not just being paranoid?" Geoff asked. "I mean, okay, this has happened before, but come on. Dorian can only go the well so many times, right?"

"Technically, Geoff's right." answered Noah. "But that doesn't mean we are safe. Dorian will strike again, he doesn't give up, remember? I think the best thing for us to do is strike back, hit him before he can hit us."

"It is a good plan, in theory." said Thomas. "But it will be difficult and very risky to carry it out. I should remind you what happened last time we confronted Dorian head on. People got hurt, nearly killed, the proof of the risk is right here in this room." He gestured at Heather and Bridgette.

"Yeah, thanks for that trip down recent memory lane, you jackass." said LeShawna. "Like we really needed that."

"I apologize for my rudeness." said Thomas. LeShawna glared at him, and did not answer.

"Anyway, so what are we gonna do?" asked Gwen. "I agree with Noah. We can't just sit around and wait for Dorian to strike, we need to go after him. And, yes I realize it will be dangerous, but we have to try. If we just sit around waiting, one or more of us could suffer a worse fate, than what has already happened."

"Girl, you were killed. It don't get more serious than that." said LeShawna.

"It can, actually." said Gwen. "I won't go into the gory details, but there are fates that are far worse than death."

"Ugh, I can't stand all this dark talk." said Katie, shuddering. "I'm going for a walk."

"I'll come with you." said Sadie, leaping to her feet and following her BFFFL out of the room. "We'll be back in an hour."

"Don't wander too far." Geoff called after them, remembering how easy it was for the two of them to get lost. They yelled something back, but he didn't catch it. He shook his head, hoping they would be safe.

"Anyway what were we-Harold what the hell?" Geoff shouted, changing direction mid sentence, as Harold suddenly collapsed.

Harold was clutching his head in obvious pain, and had begun rolling around as though he were on fire. "Harold? Harold baby, what's wrong?" asked LeShawna, kneeling down beside him. Harold did not answer and continued thrashing about in pain. "Oh, God. Get some help." LeShawna cried. Gwen and Trent sprinted from the room, returning moments later with a doctor, and several nurses. They loaded Harold onto a stretcher and took him form the room, leaving the campers in utter bewilderment.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" asked Duncan, trying to keep his voice level.

"I don't know." said LeShawna, tears in her eyes.

"He has brain cancer." said Noah. LeShawna looked at him, to shocked by his statement to respond. "He told me three days ago." Noah continued, "I suspected it from the day we got here, ever since he mentioned he was having trouble remembering things. He got it checked out shortly after Izzy's accident. He was keeping it a secret, because he didn't want any of us to worry, and now-" he didn't finish, not wanting to tell them the truth of the situation.

"And now what, Noah?" Duncan asked. Noah caught LeShawna's eye and shook his head. Duncan saw this, and understood. He hung his head, avoiding eye contact with any of them. He and Harold had never really gotten along, even now, but he had never wanted to see Harold die.

An hour later, they went to see Harold, and he confirmed what Noah had told them, adding the bit Noah had left out; he only had a few days left. An intense silence followed this crushing news, broken only by Beth's voice as she asked, "Hey, where's Katie and Sadie?"


	24. The Missing

Katie woke up lying on a cold concrete floor. She was in a dimly lit building that smelled strongly of motor oil and old tires. She tried to move, only to find her hands and feet were bound with thick rope. She also felt a strip of duct tape covering her mouth. She managed to sit up, glancing around the room and finding Sadie, who was lying a few feet from her. Sadie was also bound and gagged, and Katie could see blood on her friend's face. _Where the hell are we?_ she thought. _What happened to us?_

The sound of Sadie stirring brought her back to Earth. A sudden noise from somewhere in the darkness drew the gaze of both friends. Terrified they began backing up, hoping to find a way out before their captor got to them. But before they could get far, Dorian and several armed guards stepped out of the shadows.

"Remove their bonds." Dorian said, his cold eyes flashing. The guards did as they were told and the girl's bonds were cut.

"YOU!" Katie shrieked, staring at Dorian. "You sick bastard. What do you want from us?"

"Oh, I just want to chat." replied Dorian, with an evil smirk.

"Yeah right. Why should we believe you?" Sadie shouted.

"Because you have no choice." said Dorian, an evil glint in his eye. "You have no way of escaping, and your friends have no way of finding you."

"They'll find us." Katie shouted, unsure if they actually would. "They'll find us and they'll burn you alive."

"You have such an active and lovely imagination Katie." Dorian replied. "But I am sorry to tell you that you're wrong. The two of you are going to die here, how quickly is up to you."

Katie was terrified, but she stared at Dorian in defiance. "We will not answer any questions you ask us. We will not sell out our friends. We saw what you did to Bridgette, to Geoff, the Harold, to LeShawna. Do you really think we're gonna just let you push us around. We're a lot tougher than we look, you know?" And with that, Katie threw herself at Dorian, intent on kicking his ass.

"Katie, NO!" Sadie cried, "you're gonna get us killed!" As she said this Dorian backhanded Katie, sending her sprawling across the floor.

"Insolence is met with death." he snarled, motioning to the guards. As the guards moved forward, Dorian stepped aside, and they descended upon the terrified and helpless girls.

Meanwhile, Gwen and Duncan were organizing search parties to find the two. Everyone except, Izzy, Courtney, Harold, LeShawna, Bridgette, and Heather, would be joining the search. Gwen, Trent and Duncan would form one team. Geoff, D.J., and Owen would form another. The other teams would be Chris, Chef, Thomas, and Abigail; Justin, Lindsey and Beth; Tyler and Cody; and Eva, Noah, and Ezekiel. They fanned out across the city, searching every possible location the girls could have gone to. Eva, Noah, and Ezekiel even checked Drama, though they knew Katie and Sadie wouldn't be there, considering the club wasn't open. After four hours of searching with no luck, they reconvened at the hospital.

"No luck yet?" asked Bridgette, a worried look on her face.

"No. We've looked everywhere, but we can't find them." Geoff replied.

"I'm not giving up." said Justin. "They've got to be somewhere, they can't have just disappeared, can they?"

"It's doubtful, but you never know." said Gwen, shaking her head. "I'm calling it for the night. Anyone who wants to continue searching can, I won't stop you."

Ultimately Justin, Lindsey, Beth, Tyler, Cody, and Geoff went back out to continue the search. Cody suggested they check the warehouse district, just in case. The others agreed and after going through three warehouses with no luck, they finally found them. It was not a pretty sight. Katie and Sadie were lying in the middle of the room, covered on blood. Both of them had been violently raped, beaten, and stabbed. Sadie was unconscious and unmoving. Katie seemed to unconscious as well, but stirred as they approached.

"Katie?" Justin asked, fighting to hold back the tears. "Katie it's Justin, you're safe now."

Katie saw them and tried to smile, but couldn't. "I knew you'd find us." she said weakly. "I knew you'd come." She fell silent, the darkness of death taking her. Justin held her slight frame and swore, "This ends now, Dorian's heart is mine."


	25. Dying to Live

They returned to the hospital, bringing Katie and Sadie with them. Geoff had called the paramedics and they had assisted in the transport of Sadie, as well as Katie's body. As Justin, Lindsey, Beth, Cody, Tyler, Geoff, and the paramedics entered, the others could sense something was wrong. Gwen moved towards them, a concerned look upon her face.

"What happened?" she asked. "Are Katie and Sadie alright?" The crushing silence that met her was not reassuring.

Justin looked at her, silent tears falling. "K-Katie's dead." he choked. "We were too late."

Gwen hung her head. "What about Sadie?" she asked, fearing the answer.

"She's alive, but only just." Cody replied, glumly. "They were both in bad shape when we found them." He hesitated a moment before continuing. "Gwen, they were raped."

"Oh, God." said Gwen. Behind them, they heard Courtney and Heather retch and Duncan swear. D.J. ran from the room, the horror of the situation to much for him to bear. A horrified silence followed, none of them able to fully process this act of Dorian's evil. They sat waiting, hoping for the nightmare to end, but it didn't. After several minutes of shocked silence Izzy finally spoke up.

"Shouldn't we move Katie?" she asked, the pain of asking obvious on her face. The others agreed. Katie's body was taken to the morgue, and they were informed that Sadie had been moved to intensive care. They would spend the rest of the night mourning the loss of another of their number, and hoping for some good news on Harold.

The next day would bring more tragedy, but not before a valiant effort was made to prevent it. Harold's condition had gotten worse during the night and it appeared there was nothing that could be done for him. "This is unacceptable!" LeShawna shouted. "How can there be nothing you can do?" She was arguing with the doctor, trying to convince him to help Harold.

"I am sorry, miss, but there is nothing that can be done." said the doctor, not looking at LeShawna.

"LeShawna, listen to me." said Harold. "I am content. I have made peace with this. If this is the path I am to walk, than I shall walk it."

"No, there must be something." said LeShawna, tears flowing down her face.

"Well, there is one procedure we could try, but it's risky." said the doctor. LeShawna looked at him hopefully. The doctor continued, "It involves removing the tumor, and then replacing it with a bit of doner brain tissue. The doner tissue must be an exact match to allow for precise cohesion between it and the patient's tissue. It is recommended the doner tissue come from someone with a high IQ, somewhere in the range of 180. There is, of course, considerable risk, and the likelihood of death or sever mental impairment is very real, for both patient and doner."

LeShawna looked at Harold and asked, "What do you think? Should we try it?" Harold agreed, and LeShawna told the others. The next challenge was finding a doner. There were only a few of them who met the qualifications; Beth, Courtney, Izzy, Heather, Cody, and Noah. It was discovered, however, that though they all met the IQ requirement, only Izzy had compatible tissue. She was the perfect doner candidate; her IQ is 188, she has tissue that is compatible with Harold's, and, amazingly, she has extra. Izzy agreed to donate and they were off.

Just before the surgery began, Owen had a conversation with Izzy. "I think you're vary brave for doing this Iz." said Owen.

"Yeah well, I'm not about to let Harold die on us." Izzy replied.

"I am worried though." said Owen. "What if something goes wrong? I almost lost you once, I can't go through that again."

"Owen relax." said Izzy. "Nothing is going to happen. It'll be fine. Harold and I will come out of this alive and then we'll celebrate with you and LeShawna."

Owen nodded, but did not respond. He respected Izzy for her confidence, but he was still unsure about this idea. He could not shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. He couldn't figure out why though. Was it the fact that Izzy was still in a back brace due to the hit and run? Or was it the fact that she was so willing to go through with this seemingly untested procedure? Perhaps it was both. Whatever the reason there was nothing he could do. Izzy was doing it, no matter what, and Owen had to accept that. After all, he didn't want Harold to die, but he didn't want them both to die either.

Harold and Izzy were taken to the surgery ward, a place Izzy had been in before, and the procedure began. They were both put under and the surgeon began cutting into Harold's skull. A second surgeon cut into Izzy's skull and the doner sample was removed. On Harold's side, the tumor was cut free, and the doner tissue was inserted. The procedure seemed to be going fine, when suddenly Harold crashed. Seconds later, Izzy crashed as well. The doctors frantically began trying to resuscitate them, to no avail. After several tries the lead surgeon called it, pronouncing them both dead on the operating table.

Out in the waiting room, an extremely tense LeShawna sat with an even more tense Owen. Gwen, Trent, Noah, Eva, and Chef joined them, waiting in silence to know the fates of two close friends. Owen glanced at LeShawna and was about to say something when the lead surgeon entered. He had a grave, saddened look on his face. "I'm sorry." he said. "We lost them both. Izzy and Harold are dead."

**A/N: Okay, so that's chapter 25 and yes, I am well aware of the fact that the surgery I portrayed here is quite unrealistic, but given the medical technology we have now anything is possible, so just roll with it, okay? It's not like I ever claimed to be a doctor, after all. Also, I like to do weird shit in my fics, so yeah, that's my explanation. I don't really no what else to say, other than if you don't like it, don't read the fic. **


	26. Vengeance

The next day was the saddest and most painful any of them had ever endured. The shock of losing first Katie, and then Harold and Izzy in such close proximity was more than any of them could bare. To make matters worse, Sadie had come to and had learned of her best friend's death. Her sadness, along with Owen and LeShawna's, seemed to permeate through every corner of the hospital. It seemed as though the world had come to a complete stop. There was no possible way any of this could be real, it had to be a dream, some horrible nightmare that they were all experiencing. But they knew it wasn't. It was real, and none of them knew that better than Gwen, for she had been the first to die, and it was because of this experience she knew exactly how real it was.

At the moment Gwen sat alone, outside the hospital, once again consumed in her thoughts. _There has to be a way out_, she thought, _there has to be a way to win this war. They have to come back. Noah and I did, so why won't they? I will bring them back, even if it's the last thing I do, I will have vengeance, I will see Dorian burn._

Her thoughts were interrupted by Duncan, who suddenly appeared by her side. He looked at her before drawing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He took one out and lit it, drawing a long puff off of it.

"I didn't know you smoked." said Gwen, raising one eyebrow in a quizzical manner.

"I don't." Duncan replied. "Or at least I didn't. I used to back when the show first ended, but Courtney made me quit. I swore I'd never go back to it, but, it's just all the stress of the last couple months, you know?" Her looked at her a moment before asking, "You won't tell Court, will you?"

Gwen smiled and said, "Don't worry Duncan, your secret is safe with me. I understand that you need a way to unwind." Duncan smiled and nodded, appreciating Gwen's honesty. He had a sudden desire to kiss her, but he pushed it aside. There had once been something between them, but those days were long gone. He was with Courtney and Gwen was with Trent. Still, Duncan couldn't help but wonder what things would have been like if he, not Trent, had gotten Gwen. Again he pushed the thoughts from his mind; now was not the time nor the place to dwell on such things.

He and Gwen headed back inside, where the others still sat in silence. Trent glanced at them and smiled. Like Duncan, he knew that Duncan and Gwen were just friends. And he also knew that when the two of them were together, they usually came up with a plan.

"So, what's our next move?" Trent asked, eying Duncan and Gwen.

"Uh, I'm not-" Gwen began, but Justin cut across her.

"Our next move is to kill that bastard." he snarled. "I made a promise to Katie that I would avenge her, and I intend to keep it."

"That's all fine and good, Justin, but we have to have a plan." said Tyler. "We can't just run in there unprepared, or we'll end up dead."

"Tyler's right, eh." said Ezekiel. "We need a plan."

"No, we don't." said Justin, trying to keep his voice calm. "All we've done so far is plan and look what that's gotten us. Death, injury, imprisonment. We haven't gotten anything positive out of just planning."

"Yeah, and those negatives could be far worse if we had just charged in like idiots." Ezekiel shot back. "Do you really think we would be better off if we had just ran in and attacked?"

Justin opened his mouth to argue, but LeShawna's voice stopped him. "Can we please not do this now?" she begged. "Can't we just take a day and-" she could not finish, the pain still to much for her. Gwen moved to LeShawna's side and placed an arm around her friend's shoulder.

"Look, LeShawna's right." said Duncan. "We won't discuss this any more today. We'll come back tomorrow and figure out a plan then. In the meantime no one goes after Dorian. We do this together, with a plan, understand?" He looked at Justin, who nodded reluctantly.

A few hours later, Duncan was shaken awake by Chef. "What? What do you want?" he asked, grouchily.

"Justin's gone." said Chef. "I think he went after Dorian."

"Oh that stupid, pretty boy son of a bitch." snarled Duncan. "I told him to stay put."

"I'll get the others. We gotta go get him." said Chef.

"No." said Duncan. "Let them rest. Just get Trent, Geoff, and D.J. There's no need to wake everybody. And call Thomas."

"What about you?" asked Chef. "What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna get dressed, and then we're gonna go get Justin." snapped Duncan. "Meet me out front in five." Chef nodded, and left to retrieve the others. Duncan dressed quickly, kissed Courtney on the cheek, and left.

He met Chef, Trent, D.J., Geoff, and Thomas in front of the hospital five minutes later. "Good, everyone's here." he said, smiling at them.

"Duncan, what the hell is going on?" asked Trent. "Chef said something about Justin, but I didn't-", Duncan cut him off.

"Justin's gone after Dorian." he said. The others stared at him. "Yeah, I know, he disobeyed a direct order, and I'll kick his ass for that, but he is our friend, and we will not let Dorian take him too." He looked at Thomas and asked, "Did you bring them?"

Thomas nodded, and drew several large guns from a black knapsack. He tossed one to each of them and then let Duncan continue. "Alright, so here's the plan. We go in, get Justin out, and only use these if we have to, got it?" The others nodded and they set off.

Meanwhile Justin had arrived at Dorian's compound. He had snatched a blade from one of the cabinets at the hospital, which he now held in his teeth. He climbed the front gate and made it in. The grounds were silent and dark, and Justin quietly made his way towards the front door. A floodlight snapped on, making him freeze in his tracks. For a second, he did not move, waiting to see what would happen. Nothing did, and he proceeded. As he reached the front door, a guard suddenly burst out, a large gun aimed at Justin's head. "Who the hell are you?" the guard demanded.

"I-Who are you?" Justin asked, playing for time.

"Don't play smart with me boy." the guard snapped. "Who I am is none of your concern."

"But surely you have a name." said Justin, with a smile. He could see that this was going nowhere. With a swift slash, he slit the guard's throat, and entered the house. He found eight more guards, all with their guns pointed at him. "Shit." Justin muttered. He dropped the blade and moved towards them, ready to give himself up. Just then, Duncan and the others burst in, startling the guards.

"What's up, motherfuckers!" Duncan shouted. "I believe you guys are holding a friend of mine hostage here. That's something I just can't stand for."

The guards aimed and fired. "Oh, shit! Didn't expect that." said Duncan. "Justin, get down, you stupid fuck."

Justin ducked down, and Duncan, Geoff, Trent, D.J., Chef and Thomas returned fire. Justin grabbed his blade and went for one of the guards, slashing his Achilles tendon, dropping him. As he stood up another guard took aim and fired. "Justin, look out!" D.J. shouted. Justin turned in time to see the bullets, before they struck him in the chest. He fell and D.J. shot the guard, before rushing to Justin's side.

He grabbed Justin, lifting him of the ground. The others appeared at his side. Justin looked up at them, focusing on Duncan. "I-I'm sorry." he gasped. "Sorry I disobeyed you." His eyes rolled in is head and he went limp.

"Justin, dude, you gotta stay awake." said Geoff. But it was too late, Justin was dead.

**A/N: Sorry about the wait on this chapter. I went home for the weekend and I didn't have access to reliable internet, so I wasn't able to update. It sucks, cuz it throws off my schedual for updating this fic, but what are you going to do right? Anyway, that was chapter 26, hope you enjoyed it. Please leave reviews.**


	27. The Reasons We Fight

They stared in shock at Justin's lifeless body. Duncan was the most shocked, but he somehow managed to keep his wits. "Come on, we gotta move." he said, urging the others up. D.J. looked at him, a saddened look upon his face. "D.J., I know it hurts, but we gotta go." said Duncan. He grabbed D.J. by the arm and pulled him to his feet. D.J. kept his grasp on Justin, and they ran from the house. More guards followed them, but Chef and Thomas kept them at bay long enough for them all to escape.

They arrived back at the hospital to find the others awake. "Where the hell were you guys?" asked Chris. "Abigail told us something about going after Justin, but I-" he stopped, seeing the look on Duncan's face.

"Justin's dead." said Duncan, looking at Chris. "He went to Dorian's place, to get revenge for Katie. We tried to save him, but we-" he stopped. After a few seconds, Duncan dropped to his knees, his head buried in his hands. He was crying, shaking with rage and sadness. Courtney moved to him, and took hold of her husband.

"Duncan, listen to me. It's not your fault." said Courtney. "Justin made a choice, we all have, and there was nothing-", Duncan glared at her, making her stop.

"Don't you dare tell me there was nothing I could have done." he snarled. "I could have saved him, I could have saved all of them. But I didn't. Gwen, Noah, Katie, Harold, Izzy, Justin, they all died because I failed. If I had just figured out that first message, I could have prevented all of this."

"And chances are, you'd be the one who was dead." said Gwen. "You have no way of knowing if you would have succeeded. And Noah and I are back. We died, but we came back. And if we did it so can the others."

"You can't blame yourself for Harold and Izzy either." said Owen. "There was no way you could have prevented what happened on those operating tables."

"What would you have done?" asked Trent. "How would you have outlasted Dorian?"

Duncan didn't answer. For a moment, he sat in silence. Finally he stood, looked around the room and spoke. "If what you all say is true, than we've already lost. Months ago, Tyler asked why I was so determined to figure the message out. Tonight, you all asked the same question. Why do I keep fighting, why do we do what we do? I'll tell you why. We do it because we are a family. We do it because no one else will. We do it because if we don't, we are all dead." He paused for a moment, before continuing. "These are the reasons we fight. So that Justin, and Katie did not die in vain. So Gwen and Noah did not die and come back for nothing. So Izzy and Harold did not die in vain. And so the rest of us did not suffer in vain. These are the reasons we fight, the reasons I fight. I do it so we can all live normal, safe lives again and so Dorian burns in hell!"

The others looked at him, in awe of his impressive leadership skills. Courtney beamed at him, and even through the darkness of despair a light of triumph seemed to shine.

"Well said, Duncan." said Noah. "But you do realize this is far from over."

"Yes." said Duncan, looking at Noah with great intensity.

"Just checking." said Noah.

With renewed vigor, the campers set about planning the final assault on Dorian. The sorrow of the last few days seemed to drive them, but Duncan knew it wouldn't be enough. They needed more than grief alone to fuel their revenge and it would take something big to spark it. Unknown to all of them, that spark would come in the form of a traitor hiding in their midst.


	28. The Lie

With four of their number now dead the former campers found it hard to push forward. Even with the inspiration of Duncan's speech, they were burdened with the weight of grief and sorrow. The uncertainty of Sadie's condition and the ever present threat of attack only served to make things worse. But the campers were determined to see this war through to the end. Duncan, in particular, was determined to see Dorian burn. Now that he was fully recovered from his accident, Duncan's energy had returned to its former level. He worked tirelessly over the next few days planing the final assault. He was aided primarily by Gwen and Noah who, having felt death's touch, were also quite determined to see Dorian's fall. Their fire was also lit by the unknown amount of time they had to stay in the world of the living. Neither Gwen, nor Noah, were sure if they had been brought back permanently or if this was a temporary arrangement. Regardless, they were not about to abandon their friends.

Gwen was dealing with another issue in conjunction with killing Dorian. She was still trying to figure out exactly who had killed her. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew who it was, but without proof, she could not confront him. Whenever she wasn't working with Duncan, she was trying to find a way to confirm her suspicions. But no matter how she looked at it, there seemed to be no way of unraveling this mystery.

A week after Justin's death, Gwen finally made a breakthrough in her search. She had returned to the sight of her murder, searching for clues, and she found something that both horrified and elated her. In the corner of the room was a smell speck of blood the cleaners had missed. She collected a sample of it and compared the DNA with that she had managed to gather from her target. The DNA matched, though Gwen was not entirely comforted by this fact. _I knew it. It's him, _she thought, _Thomas killed me._ With the excitement of this find coursing through her, Gwen returned to the hospital, anger mixing in with the euphoria.

The others were gathered in their familiar room talking about their next move, when Gwen burst in, hatred burning in her eyes. "Gwen, what the-?" Trent asked, surprised.

Gwen ignored him. "You bastard!" she shouted, advancing on Thomas. "You murdering, traitorous pig! How could you do it? I trusted you and you stabbed me in the back."

"Gwen, what the hell are you talking about?" Trent asked, staring at his wife.

"He killed me." Gwen shouted, pointing at Thomas. "I trusted him and he stabbed me in the gut." She glared at Thomas.

"Gwen, what are you talking about? Thomas can't have killed you. He was with us when you were attacked." said Chef.

"Was he?" asked Gwen. "Are you absolutely certain he was in this room with you? Because I found evidence that says he was in my room with me that day. I found his blood. He let me draw his blood and it matched what I found at the scene."

"Father, is this true?" Abigail asked, looking from Gwen to Thomas. "Did you kill Gwen?"

Thomas hesitated a moment before answering. "I did." he said, hanging his head. There were cries of outrage from Trent and Duncan at this admission. Abigail turned from her father tears in her eyes, horrified by the truth.

"Thomas how-how could you?" asked Bridgette, staring at him in disbelief.

"I'm afraid I haven't been completely honest with you." said Thomas.

"What exactly does that mean?" said Chris, glaring at Thomas.

"I've been working for Dorian this whole time." Thomas admitted.

"I knew it!" said D.J. "Everyone else trusted you, but I knew something didn't smell right about you. I knew you still had to be connected to that bastard somehow."

"How could you still work for him?" Bridgette asked. "Dorian killed your wife."

"I know how." said Chris. "His wife's not really dead, is she Thomas?"

"No, she is." Thomas replied. "Please, listen to me. You must understand why I did it."

"We're done listening to you dude." said Duncan. "We trusted you and you killed Gwen. How do we know you won't kill the rest of us, or already have."

"You don't." said Thomas. "But I assure you Gwen is the only one I killed. Well her, and Noah. I killed him too."

"That's bullshit!" shouted Eva. "I killed the guy who shot Noah."

"No, you thought you did." said Thomas. "You killed the guy you thought shot Noah, but it was I who actually did it." Eva threw herself at Thomas, punching him in the face. D.J. and Duncan grabbed her and pulled her back.

"No Eva, not yet." said Duncan. He looked at Thomas and said, "I should have known it was you. You were at the scene of Izzy's hit and run, Lindsey and Beth's attack, and my accident. It was obvious that you were involved, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt, I trusted you. But as much as I want to kick your ass, I want answer's more. So explain Thomas. Tell us how could betray us and continue to work for Dorian."

Thomas spit a bit of blood on the floor, looked Duncan in the eye and began, "I did what I did because it was my part of the agreement. Everything I have told you up to this point is true. Dorian killed my wife, and I thought he had killed my daughter as well. Days after my wife's murder, Dorian told me Abigail was still alive. That was the day he told me of his plan for all of you as well. He told me that if I continued to work for him, if I helped him kill you, he would leave Abigail alone. This was eighteen years ago, so you must understand that I did not know it would be you. Dorian began planning before Chris and Chef actually went through with the show. I didn't think he would actually go through with his plan, but I was wrong. I had to keep up my end of the bargain, I did not want to lose my daughter. But I did everything I could to ensure that no one actually died. My presence at the original hits was meant to insure that they went down right, but I sabotaged them. Dorian caught on to what I was doing, so to insure the next hit went down right, he made me kill Gwen, then Noah." He paused a moment, allowing Noah to ask a question.

"If this was all a set up between you and Dorian, why did Gwen and I get brought back?" Noah asked. "Doesn't that kinda undermine the plan?"

"To ensure I kept your trust, I contacted David Luminous and asked him to bring the two of you back." Thomas replied. "There is nothing Dorian can do to challenge Luminous, so I was safe in taking that action."

The campers looked at him a moment, considering what they had just been told. Then Duncan spoke. "That's an interesting story Thomas, but true or not, I can't allow you to be part of this family any longer."

Thomas nodded. "I understand." he said. "I will go, but remember this Duncan, I only did what I had to. If you were in my place I think you would have done the same. I wish you luck in your fight, may Dorian taste your vengeance." Duncan nodded, but did not respond.

Thomas exited, leaving them with a feeling of uneasiness. If there one ally in this war had actually been their enemy, what other surprises lay in store for them?


	29. Izzy's Return

The aftermath of Thomas' departure left the former campers with a sense of despair. He had been their one link to the inside workings of Dorian's operation. More importantly, he had been their link to understanding Dorian's mind. The gap in their numbers had widened with Thomas' departure. They were now down five; with Izzy, Katie, Harold and Justin dead, and Thomas exiled they were more vulnerable than ever. Add on top of this the fact that Bridgette, Heather, and Sadie were still hospitalized and Courtney was still not a hundred percent, and they were practically inviting Dorian to attack again. At least they had Duncan back at full strength.

Abigail did not seem the least bit fazed by her father's departure. She had been shocked and outraged by his admissions, but she seemed to have shaken it off. Her nonchalant attitude worried Gwen, who felt Abigail should show some sort of emotion.

"You know Abigail, you shouldn't be so quick to wright your father off." Gwen commented, two days after Thomas left.

"What do you mean?" Abigail asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"I mean, shouldn't you be more upset by Thomas' departure?" said Gwen, looking Abigail in the face. "So, okay yes, he did kill me and Noah, but he was still your father. Shouldn't you feel something?"

Abigail considered this for a moment before answering. "You're probably right Gwen." she said. "And I do feel something, I feel anger and betrayal. Dorian killed my mother and dad still chose to stay with him. I just choose not to express my emotion, that's all."

Gwen shrugged and did not press the matter further. There was another problem to deal with, aside from the threat of Dorian. There were now four former campers lying in freezer boxes at the morgue. A decision needed to be made on what to do with Katie, Izzy, Harold, and Justin's bodies. This issue was also bothering Gwen and she knew it was on the minds of the others too. It was costing them to keep their friends in the morgue, but it would cost even more to pay for four funerals. And there was no guarantee Chris could get the favor he had for Gwen's. Gwen called a meeting of the remaining campers to discuss the issue, but as they sat down to do so, something strange was occurring in freezer box 234.

Izzy's green eyes snapped open meeting nothing but darkness. The air around her felt cold and it stung her lungs as she inhaled. Gasping, she tried to move, only to find cold steel walls on either side of her. _What the hell is going on? _she thought. _Where am I? If this is some kind of joke to get back at me for all my craziness, I'm gonna kill someone. _And then she remembered. _The surgery! I was in surgery, helping out Harold. Why am I in this cold metal box then? No! I can't have died, can I? _Even as she thought this, she answered herself. Of course she had died, it was the only logical explanation for why she was in a freezer box. She wondered if Harold was okay, hoping he was, hoping she had not died in vain. Then, suddenly, panic gripped her. She was trapped in a freezer box, alive! Not the best place for a claustrophobic to be.

Izzy struggled, kicking against the back wall of the box, hoping to push open the door. As she pushed off, her head slammed into the door, which was obviously locked. _Shit_, she thought, _now what? How the hell am I supposed to get out of here?_ The voices in her head could provide no answer. She was stuck, with no way out.

"Well, this is just great." she muttered. "What good is coming back from the dead, if you can't get out of the goddamn freezer box!" She had noticed one thing in her struggles, she could move again. Her spine was no longer encased in a brace, which was good.

Izzy's thoughts drifted to Owen. A chill ran down her spine, as she realized she would never see him again. She was alive, but trapped, and would most certainly run out of air at some point. _I'm sorry Owen_, she thought, _I'm sorry we never got to get married, or have kids, or anything. _

Just then, the freezer box door was wrenched open. Izzy instantly lay still, pretending to still be dead. The mortician slid her out and muttered, "Well my dear, looks like your going to the grave." Izzy opened her eyes and stared up at the mortician. He looked back at her for a second before jumping back from her tray, hitting one of the tables with a loud crash.

"Doc, you okay?" came Owen's voice from outside the room. Izzy slid off the tray and pulled the mortician to his feet.

"Yeah, he's good." she called back, bracing for the explosion of the doors.

"Izzy? Is that you?" Owen asked, peeking through the doors.

"Yes Owen, it's me." said Izzy, barely able to contain her emotions. "I woke up in the damn freezer box."

Owen burst through the doors, grabbed Izzy, and pulled her into a powerful hug. "Oh, Izzy." he sobbed. "You were dead, I lost you. Don't ever leave me like that again."

"Owen, Owen, it's okay, I won't" Izzy said, patting him on the head. He set her back on the floor and pulled the mortician to his feet. He then grabbed Izzy again and carried her back to the main room. As he entered, there were gasps of surprise from the others, which turned to elated screams.

Owen set Izzy down, noticing for the first time that she no longer had her back brace on. "Izzy, your back is healed!" he shouted.

"Yes, I know." she said, smiling. "I'm guessing it happened when my soul was stuck back into my body."

"That makes sense." said a tearful Noah. "All injury and damage is erased when a soul is returned to its body."

"Well whatever the reason, E-Scope is back." said Izzy, referring to her alter ego Kaleidoscope. "And this time I'm back for good."

**A/N: Okay, just so we're clear, I'm pretty sure Izzy is not actually claustrophobic. I thought I heard on an episode that she was, but I think I was confusing her with Gwen, which is stupid, because they're nothing alike so how the hell do you confuse them, right? Anyway, I didn't change it because I think it adds to the story and even if she wasn't claustrophobic, she just woke up in a freezer box. I'm pretty sure that would freak anybody out, pre-determined phobias not withstanding.**


	30. Shadows

Never had words rung more true. Izzy's return lit a fire in the former campers, just as it was about to go out. Her determination, more than anything else sparked them to action. No longer would they remain stuck in their perpetual stop/start pattern of action, they were now fully committed to bringing Dorian down. But they still had at least one major roadblock to deal with; the assassins Thomas had mentioned, so many weeks earlier. There was also the issue of Thomas himself, and where his loyalties would ultimately lie. Duncan decided the best way to learn about these supposed assassins was to ask Abigail first, instead of blindly walking into a trap. He, Chef, and Gwen cornered her one day, nearly a week after Izzy's return and asked her what she knew.

"Hey, Abigail, we have a few questions for you." said Duncan, as they approached her.

"Okay, shoot." said Abigail, not the slightest bit curious as to what they wanted to know.

"Well, your father mentioned something about Dorian working with assassins." said Gwen. "We were wondering if you could tell us anything about them, assuming they even exist."

"Oh they exist." said Abigail. "I don't know a whole lot about Dorian's operation, but I do know this. My father was always his go to guy for hits, but when he couldn't get the job done Dorian contacted this brother and sister, Brendan and Aneka DuVall, who always got the job done."

"Interesting." said Chef. "So that traitor wasn't lying to us after all."

"I never suspected he was." said Duncan. "He may be a traitor, but somehow I doubt Thomas Locke is a lier."

"Can you tell us anything else about these two assassins?" Gwen asked, looking at Abigail.

"Only that they are exceedingly efficient at what they do. It will be very hard to take them out." Abigail replied.

Just then Cody arrived clutching a scrap of paper. "Whoo, I am I glad I found you guys." he panted. "I found this while I was on a walk, it's another message from Thomas." He handed the paper over to Duncan, who snatched it from Cody's hand. The note read, _They are meeting tonight at the warehouse where Katie and Sadie were found. Good luck. TL. _

"They?" said Duncan. "Who the hell is he talking about?"

"He must be talking about Dorian and the DuValls." said Gwen.

"Sounds like it." said Chef. "Probably paying them off to do-"

"Yeah." said Duncan, not wanting Chef to finish his sentence.

"Who are the DuValls?" asked Cody, looking from Chef to Duncan to Gwen.

"They're the assassins Dorian hires to clean up particularly troublesome messes, like us." said Gwen, ignoring Cody's shudder.

"Okay, so what do we plan on doing about this?" asked Cody.

"We're gonna go back, tell the others, and then we're gonna go spy on these fuckers so we're ready for them when they attack." replied Duncan.

"So, you really think my father's message is true then?" asked Abigail.

"Yes, I already told you, I don't think Thomas would lie." Duncan replied. With that, they headed back to the hospital to relay this new information to the others.

"I agree with Duncan, I think a little reconnaissance is a good idea." said D.J. about an hour after Duncan had told the others the news. They had been debating the right course of action to take on this issue. Duncan, Abigail, Gwen, Trent, Chef, Chris, D.J., Izzy, and Owen were in favor of spying on the enemy in the hopes of gaining valuable information. Courtney, Heather, Geoff, Bridgette, LeShawna, Cody, Sadie, Beth, and Lindsey were opposed to the idea. And Tyler, Ezekiel, Eva, and Noah were unsure about the plan, believing it to be to risky, but most likely worth the risk.

"Look, I'm not saying it won't be risky, but we may not get another chance like this." said Duncan, pleading his case.

"I'm sorry bro, but I gotta go with Lindsey." said Tyler, choosing the opposed side.

"Fine." said Duncan. "Noah, Eva, Zeke? What about you?" Noah and Eva would side with Duncan, and finally, so would Ezekiel.

"Sorry." he said, looking at the opposed group. "But Duncan's right, eh. We may not have another chance."

Courtney sighed and looked at her husband. "Alright, but be careful." she said. "And I don't think you all should go. More people means more chances to get caught."

"Courtney's right." said Duncan. "We can't all go. Since it's my idea I say five of us go and I'll choose." The others nodded in agreement. "Okay, me, obviously." said Duncan. "And Abigail, Chef, Izzy, and D.J. The rest of you go back to the hotel and get some rest." The others agreed and with that they set off.

Duncan's group arrived at the warehouse district twenty minutes later. They entered the warehouse on the south side and quietly made their way up to the second level. Below them they could see the spot where Katie and Sadie had been found; their blood still stained the pavement. They waited for half an hour before Dorian's black SUV pulled up outside. Dorian and several bodyguards entered from the north. Ten minutes later, two tall figures, clad in black, entered from the east.

"Ah, Brenden, Aneka, so nice to see you again." Dorian's voice echoed around the empty building. Duncan glanced sideways at his gang, and smiled, as if to say I told you they would be here.

Below, Dorian and the assassins carried on a conversation for several minutes. The male assassin, Brenden, who was tall and powerfully built, with short brown hair, seemed to do most of the talking for the assassins. His sister, Aneka, who was only a few inches shorter than him, with long dark hair, stood silently watching Dorian intently. Duncan's group was not able to catch much of what was said, but they did catch the parting lines.

"Until next time my friends, may the hunt be good." said Dorian.

Brenden smiled and responded, "I assure you it will be. I've always wanted to kill Thomas Locke." They left, in opposite directions.

"Let's go." Duncan whispered. They descended to the ground floor and exited.

"So, Thomas is a target too, huh?" said Izzy. "That's interesting."

"Yeah, it is." said Chef. "Let's get back and tell the others."

They arrived back at the hospital, excited to tell their news, only to find the hospital ablaze.

"Oh, shit!" said Duncan, "the goddamn thing was a set up!"

**A/N: Bum Bum Buuuuummm! So there's chapter 30 (yay! only 10 chapters to go!). I guess now is a good time to say that I have really enjoyed writing this and I really appreciate all the comments people have left. Like I said in my profile, there will be a sequel to this fic (technically two sequels, as I am spliting the sequel into two parts) and after that, who knows... Anyway, now that you've met the assassines, anyone care to guess what happens next? If you do, just leave a review with your guess in it. (I will neither confirm nor deny any theories). That's all for now, hope you enjoyed.**


	31. The Fires of Hell

As they stared in horror at the flaming hospital, Duncan realized that Courtney was still inside. He ran towards the front entrance and collided with Trent. "Duncan, what the hell is going on?" Trent asked, pulling Duncan to his feet.

"I don't know." Duncan replied. "We got back from the recon mission and found the hospital like this. It's Dorian's work, it has to be. The meeting with the DuValls must have been a set up, to leave the injured vulnerable. Courtney's still in there." He looked past Trent and saw Gwen, Geoff, Chris and the others who had gone back to the hotel running towards them.

"Duncan!" Gwen cried. "We saw smoke and-" she saw Trent and stopped, figuring he had already told Duncan. Suddenly they heard screams and gunfire from within the hospital. Duncan ran towards the front door.

"Duncan, what the hell are you doing?" Geoff shouted.

"The others are still in there." Duncan shouted back. "I'm not leaving them."

He burst in to find the waiting room ablaze. Bodies littered the floor, mainly security guards, but nurses and patients as well. A couple of Dorian's men lay dead as well. There was no sign of Courtney, Bridgette, Heather, or Sadie. Duncan ran towards their room, hoping they were still alive. He passed terrified and injured people as he ran, all of them trying to escape. After what seemed like an hour he reached the room. He entered to find it had been torn apart. Frantically he began tearing through the rubble, hoping they were still there. He threw aside the bed that had been Heather's to find her pinned under a heap of rubble; she was dead.

As Duncan stared at Heather's body, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find D.J., Geoff, Owen, Izzy, Gwen, Trent, and Chef. They had followed him in, intent on ensuring his safety. For a moment they just stood there, before Duncan came back to his senses. He looked at D.J. and said, "Get her body out of here." D.J. complied, pulling Heather's body from the rubble and carrying it off towards the entrance. The rest of them went in search of Sadie, Bridgette, and Courtney, not expecting to find them alive. Much to their shock they would find a still living Sadie just down the hall. Chef, Izzy, and Owen helped her out. Seconds later, another scream pierced the silence.

"That sounded like Courtney!" Gwen shouted. The four of them tore off in the direction of the scream. They found six of Dorian's soldiers towering over a terrified Courtney and a seemingly unconscious Bridgette.

"Hey dickweed, why don't you pick on someone your own size." Duncan shouted.

The guards turned and raised their guns, but Duncan was on them before they could fire. He smashed one into the wall, grabbing his gun as he fell. He tossed the gun to Trent, who shot another guard in the head. Geoff and Gwen then attacked, each of them taking a guard out as well. Duncan caught the last two, snapping both their necks. He then moved to Courtney.

"Court, are you alright?" asked, pulling her into a hug.

"I am now." she replied. She then launched into an explanation. "They came just after you all left, we had no warning. They grabbed me, Bridgette, and Sadie and left Heather. I don't know what happened to her."

"She's dead." said Gwen, solemnly. "We found Sadie, she's alive, but barely." Gwen looked at Bridgette. Geoff was kneeling beside her, but she hadn't moved.

"Geoff, is Bridgette alright?" Trent asked. Geoff moved aside, revealing three gunshot wounds in Bridgette's chest. It was obvious from the look on Geoff's face that she was dead. Gwen looked away and Duncan swore.

After several seconds of silence Duncan spoke again. "Look, we gotta go, this place is coming down around our heads." They got to their feet and made their way back towards the exit, Geoff carrying Bridgette's body. On their way out they ran into LeShawna, who had entered in an attempt to save Harold's body.

"LeShawna, what the fuck are you doing in here?" Duncan asked.

"I'm getting Harold. I won't leave him behind." LeShawna responded.

"What?" said Duncan. "LeShawna Harold's already dead and his body's probably burnt to a crisp by now. Don't be stupid, just leave him." LeShawna glared at him and pushed past.

"LeShawna wait!" Gwen cried. She and Trent tore down the hall after her. Duncan, Courtney, and Geoff emerged to find the others waiting. Geoff lay Bridgette's body next to Heather's, his eyes meeting D.J.'s.

"Where the hell are Gwen, Trent, and LeShawna?" Noah shouted.

"Still inside." said Duncan. "LeShawna said something about not leaving Harold." Noah stared at Duncan in disbelief, but did not respond.

Back inside the hospital, which was now almost completely consumed in flames, Gwen, Trent, and LeShawna had arrived at the morgue. Sure enough, the room was on fire. LeShawna tried to enter, but Gwen and Trent grabbed her. "You cant go in there, it's too dangerous." said Gwen.

"I'm not leaving him!" LeShawna shouted, tears in her eyes.

"Look LeShawna, I know you loved him, but you have to let Harold go." said Trent. "He's gone and there's nothing-do you smell that?"

Gwen looked at him, perplexed, until she caught a whiff of the smell too. "Oh, shit." she said. "That's fucking propane."

Thinking quickly, Trent came up with a plan. "Gwen, LeShawna," he said, "you two get out of here. I'll get Harold, Katie, and Justin and meet you out front, okay?"

Gwen nodded, grabbed LeShawna, and ran. They had just reached the outside when the morgue exploded. Gwen turned and screamed, "NO, TRENT!" and LeShawna burst into tears. Gwen fell to her knees shaking, staring horror-struck at the burning hospital. She felt Duncan take hold of her, and then heard the click of a gun being cocked. Looking up they both saw one last Dorian soldier aiming a gun at their heads. The soldier fired, they heard a scream behind them, and suddenly D.J. was in front of them. The bullet caught him in the chest, throwing him backwards. Gwen screamed and Duncan returned fire, hitting the soldier in the head. D.J. hit the ground behind them and was still. They turned to help him, but it was no use, he was dead.

**A/N: Okay, so I'm sorry for the wait on this one. I just graduated from college and I haven't had access to the internet. But I found a way to get it so, with any amount of luck, I should be returning to a regular schedual of updates. I noticed a couple of you made guesses as to the outcome of this fic in your reviews of the last chapter, but, as I said then, I will neither confirm nor deny any theories. Still, your guesses are good, and well appreciated. Until next time, read and enjoy, and keep leaving reviews.**


	32. Win or Lose

The following morning, the remaining campers sat at the hotel, in utter shock. The events of the previous night seemed to have shattered any and all hope they had gathered in the last few weeks. Geoff and Gwen were particularly devastated. Geoff sank back into the depression that had briefly grasped him when Bridgette had been voted off TDI. And though Gwen now knew how Trent had felt when she had died, this fact provided her little comfort. LeShawna sank deeper into her depression as well. Watching Harold's body be incinerated had driven her past the point of total sadness and into something else altogether. Heather's death seemed to greatly affect Abigail, as she had been the one to bring Abby back to her father. But it was D.J.'s death that hurt the most. All of them felt a tremendous sense of crushing sadness knowing that one of their strongest foundations was now gone. Duncan in particular, was greatly saddened by D.J.'s passing. The two of them had spent so much time together and Duncan considered D.J., more than anyone else, to be his brother. Chef was also particularly devastated by D.J.'s death, feeling like he had lost a little brother.

The depression gripped them for two full weeks. Dorian seemed to sense he had done more than enough damage for the moment, as he did not send anyone else to attack. Hardly any of them had left the hotel since that fateful night. Owen seemed to be the only one who was able to function, even semi-normally, and he often went for solo walks around downtown. What none of them realized was, Owen was formulating a plan of his own on these walks, a plan that would both lift their spirits and crush Dorian's. Finally, on the fourteenth day after the attack on the hospital, Owen called them all together.

"What do you want, Owen?" asked Duncan, in an uninspired tone.

"Yeah, big guy. Can't you just let us wallow in our misery?" asked Geoff

"No. We have to fight back." said Owen, staring at them intently. "I have a plan."

"What's the point dude?" asked Tyler. "Every time we gain ground on Dorian, he just puts us back down again. We can't win this war."

"So that means we should just give up?" asked Owen. Tyler nodded. "That's bullshit and I don't accept it." said Owen. "Win or lose we have to keep fighting."

"But why, Owen?" asked Beth. "Why should we keep fighting when all it's brought us is misery and death?"

"We keep fighting because it's the right thing to do." said Owen, a fierce determination in his eyes. "We keep fighting because giving up never got anyone anything. We keep fighting because it's what our friends would want us to do. Or do you not care about their sacrifices?"

"No, dude. We care, it's just-" said Cody.

"It's just what, Cody?" Owen shouted. "Too hard, too painful, too fucked up? Of course it's hard, painful, and fucked up, it's a fucking war! We keep fighting because it's what D.J. would do. It's what Heather would do. It's what Trent and Justin and Katie and Harold and Bridgette would do. They would never just roll over and let Dorian win, and you all know that. We fight, because win or lose, we will take Dorian down. Even if we all die doing it, we will wipe his psychotic, tyrannical, fucked up ass off the face of God's good, green Earth!"

The others looked at Owen a moment, before Duncan started applauding. The others quickly joined in and Duncan spoke up.

"Well said, Owen, well said." Duncan said. "I apologize for being so weak, we all do. You're absolutely right, the others would never give up and neither will we. Now let's hear this plan of yours."


	33. Owen's Plan

Owen laid out his plan for them, barely able to contain his excitement. The plan involved hitting the DuValls before they had a chance to hit the former campers. Owen had somehow learned that the DuValls base was in the warehouse district; in the warehouse right next to the one in which Katie and Sadie were held captive, to be more precise. He had also learned that they left the place unguarded. His plan was to infiltrate the building and kill the assassins.

"It's a good plan Owen, but it'll be risky." said Duncan, after Owen had finished.

"I realize that, but we have to try." said Owen, looking Duncan in the eye.

"I agree." said Izzy. "We owe it to those we have lost to at least try. If we don't, then we might as well just kill ourselves, it'll be the same thing."

"Alright, we'll give it a shot." said Duncan. "But, and I can't stress this point enough, if things go wrong we get out. There's no sense in playing the hero when you're about to be killed."

"Agreed." said Owen. "Alright, so who's going?"

"Your plan dude, you choose." said Duncan.

Owen considered for several minutes before making his first choice. "Izzy." he said.

"No surprise there." said Chris, with a half smile.

"Shut up." said Owen. "I also choose Eva, Noah, Ezekiel, Cody, Tyler, and Geoff."

"Okay, sounds good." said Duncan. "But I have to ask, why didn't you choose me?"

"Because, you've gotten to go out and do recon already." said Owen. "Also, we need you to stay behind, in case they attack here again. You are our best chance at avoiding another massacre."

Duncan nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. Gwen, Chef, Chris, Courtney, Lindsey, Beth, Sadie, LeShawna, Abigail, and I will stay here and hold down the fort."

Owen nodded. "Alright troops, let's move out." he said, motioning to his task force.

"Wait, we're doing this now?" asked Noah, cocking one eyebrow.

"Yes." said Owen. "What, you wanna wait until hell freezes over or something? The sooner we get this done, the better."

"I was just checking, that's all. You don't have to bite my head off." said Noah. After hesitating a moment, Owen moved out, followed by Izzy, Geoff, Eva, Ezekiel, Noah, Cody, and Tyler.

"Good luck." Gwen shouted, as they left. "Please come back whole." she added, once they were out of earshot.

Owen lead his task force down to the warehouse district. Night had fallen and they moved silently, blending in with the shadows. They arrived at the warehouse district to find it still and silent. It seemed as if the area had been completely abandoned. Izzy moved slightly ahead of the others, keeping her sharp eyes peeled for the first sign of danger. But nothing came.

"Okay, this is starting to freak me out." whispered Ezekiel. "There doesn't seem to be anyone here."

"Oh, they're here, we just haven't found 'em." said Izzy.

"How do you know that, eh?" Ezekiel asked.

"I just do." Izzy answered, flashing an evil grin at him.

"Zeke, E-Scope, would you shut up!" whispered Owen. "We're trying to be sneaky here."

"Sorry, honey." said Izzy, with another smile.

Just then a pair of floodlights came on, bathing them all in white hot light. "Shit." said Izzy. She froze, as did the others. They waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. After a minute or so the lights shut back off.

"Must've been a motion sensor or something." said Eva. Owen nodded and they moved forward, reaching the DuVall's warehouse a few minutes later.

"This is it." whispered Owen, staring up at the imposing building.

"How can you tell, these buildings all look the same?" asked Tyler.

"Duncan said the warehouse where Katie and Sadie were held was number 254." said Owen. "The numbers go east to west, and the DuVall's is to the east, so 253 would be theirs." He pointed to the building's number, etched just above the door. Tyler nodded.

"Let's go in." said Eva, walking up to the door.

"Eva, wait, we should-" BOOM! A shotgun blast threw Eva back from the door before Noah could finish his sentence. "Eva, are you alright?" he asked, rushing to her side.

"Yeah. I heard the gun cock just in time." she said.

The door opened and Dorian walked out, flanked by two guards. He was followed by Brenden and Aneka and several more guards. He smiled at them as he walked out, and Brenden inclined his head to show greeting. Aneka seemed to ignore them completely.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Cody asked, pointing at Dorian. "This is their place, not yours."

"Yes, but they work for me, so I am welcome at their 'place', you called it, any time I wish to come." Dorian replied. "And it is rude to point, boy."

"Get bent." said Cody. "I don't care what's rude or not when it comes to you."

"Oh really." said Dorian. "Well that's too bad Cody. You see, I was hoping to have a little chat with the lot of you. Thanks to your good friend Thomas, we knew you were coming, and we were hoping to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed."

"Thomas isn't our friend." said Ezekiel. "He betrayed us to work for you. And since when do you care about avoiding unnecessary bloodshed? Wasn't spilling Gwen's blood unnecessary? Or Noah's? Or any of our other friends who you've killed?"

"Yeah, and what makes you think we wanna chat anyway?" asked Tyler. "You're our enemy, not our 'let's have tea and crumpets' buddy."

"Pity." said Dorian. He looked at the DuValls and said, "Kill them."

"With pleasure." said Brenden. "Hope you like painful deaths." he added, advancing towards the campers.

"Wouldn't know, haven't died." said Tyler, sidestepping Brenden's attack.

The fight began in the former campers favor, as they quickly took out Dorian's guards. But things turned bad in a hurry. "Ha, this is all you got, old man?" Ezekiel shouted. "These assassins ain't so tough. I could-" A blade cleanly sliced through his throat, ending his sentence. He fell to the ground, dead.

"You were saying, maggot." Brenden laughed, as he moved away from Ezekiel's body.

"You bastard!" Owen shouted, throwing himself at Brenden.

Meanwhile, Eva was engaged in silent combat with Aneka. The two traded blows for several minutes, Eva even drawing blood, before Aneka plunged one of her daggers into Eva's heart.

"EVA!" Noah screamed, as she fell back, dead. He charged Aneka, but she melted into the shadows, avoiding his capture.

More guards joined the fight, and Izzy, Tyler, Cody, and Geoff all took multiple gunshots. Owen bull rushed the oncoming guards and began pounding them into the ground. One guard got off a wild shot, that somehow struck Owen in the back of the head. Seeing this, Izzy, against her better judgment, obeyed Duncan's order and sounded the retreat. Though wounded, she and Geoff managed to gather Owen and Ezekiel's bodies and the badly injured Cody and Tyler. Noah grabbed Eva's body and they ran. The guards pursued them, firing in an attempt to kill more. A bullet hit Geoff in the shoulder, causing him to drop Ezekiel's body. Geoff tried to grab him but Izzy shouted, "Leave him, we'll come back for him later. Just keep running." Geoff obeyed and they arrived back at the hotel to find the others waiting for them.

**A/N: Okay, so I know many of you who read this fic are getting a little annoyed with me for killing off your favorite characters and I'm fair certian more of you will be pissed after reading this, so let me explain myself. I kill characters because it is neccessary to do so and I kill fan favorites because doing so illicites the kind of reactions I've gotten from many of you. For a story to have stakes, characters must die, or at least be put in situations where they could die. Death is a part of life and it's something we all have to accept, even with fictional characters. However, if this explaianation does not satisfy you, keep in mind that I killed Gwen and Noah, only to bring them back, so the same result may hold true for the others.**


	34. Back from the Dead

"Damn it! I told you guys to get out if there was trouble." Duncan shouted, as the survivors arrived back at the hotel.

"We did." Izzy shouted back, barely able to contain her emotions. Duncan opened his mouth to argue, but Courtney slugged him in the shoulder to shut him up. They helped move Cody and Tyler, as well as Owen and Eva's bodies inside.

"Wait, where's Zeke?" asked Beth.

"We lost his body on the way back." said Geoff, a pained expression on his face. Beth looked horrified.

Owen's task force was in bad shape. Owen, Eva, and Ezekiel had been killed, and Geoff, Izzy, Tyler, and Cody had been wounded; the latter two badly. Only Noah had escaped without any injury, save for the emotional damage caused by Eva's death. Once they were inside, Duncan turned on Izzy and Noah, looking for answers.

"What the fuck happened?" he demanded, barely able to contain his rage.

"They knew we were coming." said Izzy. "Somehow they knew we were gonna be there. They were ready and those assassins are just as brutal as Thomas said."

"Look, now is not the time for this." said Courtney. "Tyler and Cody need medical attention, now. For that matter, so do Izzy and Geoff. We can discuss what went wrong later. Right now we need to help our friends so we don't lose them too. And someone needs to find Ezekiel's body, for God's sake."

Duncan nodded and they set about helping those who needed it. Later Duncan and Abigail retrieved Ezekiel's body.

The following day, after returning from the hospital on the other side of town, where they were forced to go now, Chris found another note written in a familiar hand. It was stuck in the door of his hotel room and said, _Chris, we need to talk. Bring Chef, no one else. Meet me on the roof this afternoon. TL. _Chris read the message through three times before getting Chef.

"So, that stinking pile of shit wants to talk, huh?" growled Chef. "Well he can kiss my black ass."

"I'm going." said Chris, not looking at his longtime friend. "It would be nice to have you there to back me up."

Chef rolled his eyes. "Fine." he sighed. "I'll come, but if he tries anything funny, I'll kill him. Just so we're clear." Chris nodded.

An hour later they met Thomas on the hotel roof. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Chris asked, looking at Thomas.

"We're running out of time." Thomas replied. "Dorian is planning something big and he's going to unleash it soon. I don't know exactly what it is, but I can say this, it involves the DuValls. I think he's planning on killing them too."

"Why the fuck would he want to do that?" asked Chef. "I thought they were his personal death squad?"

"They are, but you know Dorian." replied Thomas. "He's not the most trusting person in the world, and if he's willing to kill the campers to get you and cast me aside, then he's willing to kill anyone he thinks will hold him back." Chef shrugged, but did not respond.

"Chris, Chef, where the fuck are you guys?" they heard Duncan calling. They turned to see if he was coming, and saw the roof door open. Thomas disappeared, not wanting to be seen. Duncan came out onto the roof, stopping when he saw them.

"What the heck are you guys doing up here?" he asked, staring at them.

"Just getting some fresh air." Chris lied. "What's up?"

"Gwen wanted me to get you. She said something is happening downstairs, but didn't elaborate." Duncan said. They ran back downstairs and joined the others

"What is it? What's happening?" asked Chris looking wildly around the room. Gwen looked at him and stepped aside, revealing the empty beds that had contained the bodies of Heather, D.J., and Bridgette.

"They're gone!" said Chris, horrified. "Someone jacked their bodies. But who? How? We had this room secured at all times."

"Well, your close Chris old buddy." said a voice from the shadows. "The room was always secured, but someone did jack the bodies."

"Who? Who did it?" Chris asked, nearly hysterical.

"We did." said D.J., stepping out of the shadows. "We stole our own bodies back." He smiled and moved aside, revealing Bridgette and Heather, both of whom were also once again among the living.

"And we have a surprise." said Bridgette, with a smile. And with that, Harold, Katie, Justin, and Trent walked out of the shadows on the other side of the room. Gwen's breath caught in her chest. Sadie gasped. And LeShawna asked, "How is this possible? Your bodies were incinerated, how did you come back?"

"David Luminous has the ability to reconstruct bodies." said Trent. "So, even if your body is destroyed, he can put your soul back in."

"I don't care how it's done. I'm just glad you're all back." said Gwen, embracing Trent.

"Yeah, now all we need to do is get Owen, Zeke, and Eva back and we'll all be alive again." said Geoff, who was holding Bridgette.

"Oh, I have a feeling they'll be back." said Justin. "We saw them just before we returned and I think it's a fair bet to say we'll all soon be back from the dead."

"Well, let's hope so." said Chris. "Because the end of this war is almost upon us and we'll need everyone there for the final battle."

**A/N: And there you go. I told you I'd bring them all back, well okay, I haven't brought them all back, yet. But seeing as how I just killed Zeke, Owen, and Eva in the last chapter, it makes sense to wait a couple of chapters to bring them back. And The Miz on TDI, Hero Skillet, whatever your name is (you keep changing it on me) I know how much you want Zeke to get more air time, but it's not gonna happen much in this fic. However, if you want to see Zeke in action, read the sequels to this fic, you know, once I actually get them posted. Thanks for the comments everyone, and please leave more... Oh, and one more thing, STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT DORIAN! I know he's an asshole, he's the fucking villian. He's SUPPOSED to be a dick. And he will get what's coming to him.**


	35. The Death of a Friend

Over the next few days, as Harold, Katie, Justin, Trent, D.J, Bridgette, and Heather readjusted to the world of the living, Duncan began stocking up for the final showdown with Dorian. He was now consumed with the desire to kill Dorian and end this war. He was obsessed with getting it done before anyone else could get hurt.

Duncan's obsession with the end was beginning to worry Courtney, but she knew nothing she said would deter him. Still, she wouldn't let him just blindly follow his suicidal tendencies. She cornered him one day and asked him one, all important question, "Why is it your duty to see thing to the end? Why can't you allow the rest of us to carry the burden too?"

"Because, I've always done things myself." Duncan replied. "It's not that I don't want your help Courtney, it's just something I have to do alone." He smiled and kissed her. "Don't worry, I will still be here at the end." He then walked away to continue his work.

"I know you will." Courtney whispered. "And I also know you don't fight alone."

Duncan's obsession was not the only thing on the minds of the former campers. Tyler and Cody were still in the hospital, though they were improving by the day. And there was also the issue of when, or if, Owen, Ezekiel, and Eva would return to them from the other side. However, the campers realized that they had no control over whether or not that would happen. Justin still remained convinced it would, basing his assumption on the evidence. Every one of them that had previously died had come back, so logically Owen, Ezekiel, and Eva should as well; it was only a matter of time.

A week after the mass return, Duncan received another message from Thomas. It read, _Duncan, meet me on the roof of the tower across the street from your hotel. We have much to discuss. TL. _

Duncan stared at the note a moment, not believing what he was reading. Was Thomas really that stupid? Did he really think Duncan would fall for this? Duncan considered the possibilities for a moment. On the one hand, Thomas was a traitor, who was still in league with the enemy. On the other, he may actually have information that could be valuable. Finally Duncan decided to go against his better judgment, and take the risk that this was a trap. He left the hotel and went across the street to the tower, hoping he wasn't walking into a trap.

Meanwhile, Courtney was looking for her husband. She bumped into Trent and Gwen, outside her room. "Hey, you guys haven't seen Duncan, have you?" she asked. They shook their heads, and followed her into her room. Trent found the note and read it. "Oh, shit. He's gone to meet with Thomas." he said. Courtney and Gwen looked at him, horror on both their faces.

Duncan reached the roof of the tower, to find Thomas waiting for him. He approached the man, keeping his eyes on him. "So you wanted to talk?" he asked.

"Yes." said Thomas. Duncan tried to read his face, but Thomas did not show any signs of deception.

"What did you want to discuss?" Duncan asked.

"The terms of your death." Thomas replied, drawing a gun, and aiming it at Duncan's head.

"Shit." said Duncan, realizing he had been tricked.

"I must say, I didn't expect you to come Duncan." said a voice behind him. He turned to find Dorian standing there, with one guard.

Duncan sighed. "Let's just get this over with." he said. "I don't have time for games."

"Oh come now Duncan, don't take the fun out of this." said Dorian. "Let us talk before I kill you. It could spare your friends."

"Yeah, like I believe that load of shit." said Duncan. "You never stop, do you Dorian? It's all just a game to you isn't it? Well I don't want to play, so you might as well kill me, cause this isn't doing anything to fix my mood."

"Have it your way then. Thomas kill him." said Dorian. Thomas aimed at Duncan, but did not shoot. "What are you waiting for, shoot him!" Dorian bellowed.

"No." said Thomas, turning the gun towards Dorian.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Dorian shouted, drawing his own gun.

"Something I should have done eighteen years ago." said Thomas. Before he could fire, the guard shot him twice in the chest. Duncan grabbed Thomas' gun and fired back, hitting the guard in the head and Dorian in the side. Dorian ran before Duncan could shoot again. He turned to Thomas and lifted him off the ground.

"Stupid bastard." Duncan growled. "What the hell did you do that for? I could have taken him."

Thomas laughed and coughed up blood. "Still think you're all that, don't you?" Duncan didn't answer. "Listen to me Duncan, I'm dead, there's nothing you can do." said Thomas. "Before I go I want you to understand why I did what I did. I made a deal with David Luminous, years ago. I was dying and I would never see my daughter again, so I asked for more time. Luminous gave it to me, provided I never killed again. See, Luminous has been after my soul for years, so I had to give him something in exchange for letting me live."

He paused a moment, and coughed up more blood, then continued, "I left Dorian, but I couldn't forget what he had done to me. I went to back to him, hoping I could find a way to kill him without breaking my deal. But I couldn't. He convinced me to help him with his plans for you and your friends. I knew it would be my death, but I did it, cause I still believed he could get Abigail. But he didn't even know where she was. I was tricked, just like you. And when I killed Gwen and Noah, I broke my deal with Luminous. After Gwen's funeral I contacted Luminous again and made another deal with him, if he allowed all of you to come back from the dead, should you die, for any reason, then I would give him my soul and Dorian's. Luminous agreed. That's why your friends are coming back, and they'll stay alive when this is all over. You must make sure you kill the DuValls before you kill Dorian. As long as one of us is alive, you're all safe from death. But the DuValls will hunt you, even if Dorian is dead. If they kill you, and he's dead, you stay dead."

He fell silent for a moment, before reaching into his pocket and retrieving a disk, which he handed to Duncan. "Take this." he said. "It contains the answers to all of your questions. Remember to kill the DuValls first, promise you will do-" Thomas fell silent once more. He was dead.

Duncan stared at him, feeling tears burning in his eyes. "I promise Thomas, I will avenge you. And I will remember."

Just then, Courtney, Gwen, and Trent arrived. They stopped short, seeing Thomas' body. Duncan turned to them, the look on his face telling them all they needed to know. Thomas Locke was gone.

**A/N: Well, that's that. I don't know how many of you were actually big fans of Thomas Locke, but if you were, just remember my statements from the previous two chapters. His death WAS neccessary. Also, I should point out, we're nearing the end folks, and it's gonna go out with a bang!**


	36. The Truth

"Duncan?" Courtney asked, approaching her husband. "Duncan, are you okay?" She looked at him with concern, unsure what he was going to do. He looked at her again, a steely determination in his eyes.

"I'm fine." he said. "Let's get back to the hotel. Abigail needs to know what happened."

Courtney nodded. She wanted to press the issue, but didn't. Duncan lifted Thomas' body and headed for the roof exit. Courtney, Gwen, and Trent followed in silence. They returned to the hotel to find it buzzing with excitement.

"What's going on?" Trent wondered aloud. He looked at the others, who looked just as perplexed as he did.

They headed up to the rooms, and found the source of the excitement. Tyler and Cody were back from the hospital. They were still both messed up, but it was obvious healing had taken place. There was another surprise, one even more stunning than Tyler and Cody's return, Owen, Eva, and Ezekiel were back as well. Apparently another guest had seen them when they had been brought back dead, days earlier, and that same guest had somehow discovered they were back from the dead. The news had spread through the hotel like wildfire. Hundreds of fans had come to welcome them back to the world of the living. Chef saw Duncan enter with Thomas' body. Unfortunately so did some of the fans, who struggled to get a better look.

Sensing the oncoming shit-storm, Chef took control of the situation. "Alright, everyone who's not a former TDI contestant or host get the fuck out!" he bellowed. "We have personal business to attend to."

Reluctantly the fans began to file out, herded by Chef, D.J., and Geoff. Once they were all gone, Geoff turned to Chef and asked, "What personal business?" Chef pointed at Duncan, who had placed Thomas on one of the beds. Geoff's eyes widened, and he hung his head.

"What happened?" Chris asked, looking at Duncan.

"He sent me another message, asked me to meet him." Duncan replied. "I did. It was trap, but I went anyway. Dorian was there. He tried to make Thomas kill me, he had the chance, but he turned on Dorian instead. I guess he was on our side all along?" He buried his face in his hands and cried. Abigail approached him, placing an arm around his shoulders.

"I'm glad you were with him when he died." she whispered, tears falling from her eyes as well. "He considered you a son, he told me just before he left."

The others stood in silence, watching this tragedy unfold. Noah stood, fidgeting with a pen, wanting to explode with rage. Trent noticed this and asked, "Noah, you have something you wanna say?" Noah looked at him, his mouth twitching.

"Yes." he said, after a moment's hesitation. "How can you say he was on our side all along after what he did to Gwen? What he did to me? He stabbed us in the back and now that he's dead you're all kissing his ass. Well fuck that. I'm glad he's gone, I hope he burns." It was clear that he was not the only one who felt this. "Why should we shed a tear for-" Duncan drilled Noah in the face, sending him sprawling.

"FUCK YOU!" Duncan roared, glaring at Noah with a hatred like no other. "You weren't there Noah! You didn't see him die! Thomas Locke is fucking hero and he's the only reason any of you ungrateful shits is alive again. You hate him for what he did? You think I'm kissing his ass? How bout you shut the fuck up and kiss mine. Or you could just go back to being dead, I liked you better that way." He stood, breathing heavily, shaking with rage. No one moved, no one spoke, they all just stared, unsure what to do.

Finally, Owen broke the silence. "What do you mean we're alive again because of Thomas?" he asked, looking at Duncan.

Duncan turned to Owen and, after taking a deep breath, spoke. "He made a deal with David Luminous." Duncan said. "He promised Luminous his and Dorian's souls in exchange for restoring any of ours, should we die for any reason."

"Wait, what?" asked Cody. "He gave up his soul for all of ours? When did he do this?"

"After Gwen's funeral." replied Duncan. "I know what you all are thinking, how can it be true? I believe him, I mean, it makes perfect sense and he had no reason to lie. He was dying when he told me, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that the dying do not lie."

"Alright, I'm sorry for exploding like that." said Noah, wiping blood from his nose. "It was uncalled for and I apologize."

Duncan nodded, to show he excepted the apology. "Thomas gave me this." he said, revealing the disk. "It contains all the secrets of Dorian's organization, the DuValls, and everything else we've been searching for the last few months." He looked at Tyler, Cody, Owen, Eva, and Ezekiel and said, "By the way, it's good to have you all back."

Owen smiled and said, "Let's find out what's on that disk."

They popped the disk into Beth's computer and hit play. What they saw shocked them more than they anticipated. It turned out Dorian's real plan was not to merely gain revenge on Chris and Chef, he was planing to take over the world. His company had developed various biological and chemical weapons, which he intended to use to force the world into submission. He had intended to use Camp Wawanakwa and TDI as his testing ground, but after Chris and Chef kicked him off the show, he began selling his weapons to hostile governments and terrorist organizations. He now intended to unleash his most terrifying weapon, a virus dubbed the Reckoning, upon the world, thus wiping out the human population.

As the former campers watched this, they realized that their war had now gone beyond just personal vendettas. The fate of the world was at stake, and it was up to them to save it. Dorian had to be stopped, if not for their protection, than for the world's.

Hours later they put Thomas to rest. They decided to give him a hero's funeral by burning his body. They took him out to a forest clearing, and after building a wooden platform, burned him. They remained, paying homage to their fallen friend, knowing that they all soon may be joining him. Duncan stared into the flames making a silent promise to himself, no matter what happened, the others would live. No matter what happened to him, they would see the end of this nightmare.

**A/N: Okay, I know I went a little cliche with the whole saving the world thing, but I wanted to make this about more than just the TDI characters. I wanted to give them a reason to fight besides themselves and well, you all have read this, you know what Dorian is like. It makes perfect sense when you think about it. And, like I said last chapter, we're nearing the end, so be ready, cuz it's gonna be good.**


	37. Gwen's Battle

In the days that followed, the reunited campers prepared for the final battle looming on the horizon. They did not know exactly when Dorian and the DuValls would strike, but they knew, now that Thomas was gone, they had to do this on their own. As always, it was Duncan who focused hardest on their goal. But he was not alone. They were now all dedicated to ending the war. The driving force behind their renewed vigor was the threat of the Reckoning virus. Izzy, Noah, Harold, and Cody had taken it upon themselves to find a way to stop the virus, should Dorian unleash it. They were hindered in their efforts however, mainly by the fact that they did not know how the virus was constructed or what it was being stored in. Still, they would not give up.

A week and a half after Thomas' death, Gwen and Trent were out gathering supplies when they were approached by a man in black. They recognized him immediately as one of Dorian's soldiers.

"What do you want?" Trent asked, looking suspiciously at the man.

"I was sent to tell you that my master is ready." the soldier replied. "The final battle begins in two days. My master and the assassins will be waiting in woods outside of town. Meet them there and this conflict will be settled." He bowed and disappeared.

Gwen and Trent looked at one another and then ran back to the hotel. They burst into the room they had been using for planning, startling Lindsey and Beth, who were the only ones there.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Gwen asked looking from Lindsey to Beth.

"Don't know." said Beth, shrugging. "We came in to see if there was anything we could do and the room was empty."

"Shit!" said Gwen, impatiently. "Why is no one ever there when I did them to be?"

"What's so urgent that you need everyone to be here?" asked Lindsey.

"We were just approached by one of Dorian's goons." said Trent. "He said we have two days until Dorian will be ready to settle this."

"Oh, no!" said Beth. "Will we be ready in time?"

"We will be, if we can just find the others." said Gwen, rolling her eyes. "Where the hell could they be?"

"Well, Duncan did say something earlier about going for food, but I didn't catch exactly what he said." said Lindsey.

"Oh, that's just fucking spectacular." cried Gwen. "Here we are about to face the greatest challenge of our lives, and everyone's out getting snacks. Does no one take this seriously?"

Just then, the others entered, loaded up with massive amounts of food. Owen spotted Gwen and, seeing the look on her face, stopped up short, causing the others to crash into him.

"Ow! Owen, what the hell? Did you have a stroke or something?" asked Duncan. He too caught sight of Gwen. "Oh, hey Gwen." he said smiling. She glared at him. "Uh, Gwen, is something wrong?" Duncan asked.

"Is something wrong?" she exploded. "You all were just out gathering snacks while there's a psychotic killer giving us an ultimatum and you're asking me if something is wrong? Fuck you! Of course something is wrong Duncan. Nothing has been right since we got here."

"Alright, shit, I was just asking." he said. "You don't have to tear me a new one, for fuck's sake."

Ignoring Duncan, Courtney asked, "Did you just say we were given an ultimatum?"

"Yes." said Gwen. "Trent and I were out gathering supplies, when one of Dorian's soldiers approached us and told us we have two days until the final battle begins."

"Well, shit. That ain't good." said D.J. "Are we gonna be ready in two days?"

"It looks like we're gonna have to be." said Chef. "We don't seem to have much choice in the matter, and to be honest, I'm ready now. Let's end this once and for all."

Two days later, they left the hotel, for what was likely their last time. They headed for the clearing in the woods they had been told to meet at. After walking for an hour, they arrived, to find Dorian was already there. He was flanked by the DuValls and around two hundred of his personal soldiers. As the former campers approached Dorian opened his arms wide in greeting before speaking.

"Welcome, my friends, welcome." he said. "Welcome to the final battle that will decide the fate of this little conflict. I hope you are all prepared and have made your peace. I cannot promise a quick death, but I can promise death. Now, step into the arena and face your destiny."

" Well aren't you just a cocky sack of monkey shit?" said Duncan, an evil grin on his face. "You seem pretty confident Dorian, but don't forget, he who laughs last laughs best and he who bleeds first bleeds the most."

"Well said, but words will not gain you victory." said Dorian.

Brenden stepped forward, glanced at Dorian and then said, "You think you have what it takes to destroy us, but do not forget that we kill for a living and we enjoy our job." After a few seconds of posing, Brenden asked, "If I may Dorian, I would like to challenge one of our fine guests to combat."

"By all means Brenden, be my guest." said Dorian, smirking. "Who would you like to face?"

"Her." Brenden said pointing at Gwen. "One on one, no interference, to the death. Bare knuckle."

Gwen looked at the others, unsure if she wanted to except. Trent looked at her and nodded. With that, Gwen stepped forward and faced Brenden down. "You can do it Gwen." Izzy shouted. Gwen drew a deep breath and lunged at her opponent.

Brenden sidestepped easily and caught Gwen with an elbow to the head. Gwen stumbled, but caught herself. She threw a kick at Brenden's midsection, connecting this time. Brenden staggered backwards, but did not fall. They each landed several more hits, each drawing blood.

Brenden stopped, and peeled off his jacket, throwing it aside. He then drilled Gwen in the face with a wicked right hook, that sent her sprawling. Trent jerked, moving towards the battle, but Chef stopped him. Gwen got to her feet, only to catch more blows from Brenden. "Come on Gwen." he taunted. "What's the matter, never fought an assassin before?" Gwen gave him the finger and nailed him with a brutal roundhouse kick, drawing cheers from her fellow campers. Brenden shook off the blow and motioned to his sister.

"Let's make this interesting." he said, as Aneka tossed him two swords. Brenden caught them and tossed one to Gwen, who caught it. She stared at the blade for a moment before Brenden lunged at her. She raised her blade in time to block his swing. Brenden twisted away from her and came back for another swing. Again Gwen was able to block the swing.

The blades clanged loudly as they clashed. Gwen held her own, despite never having fought with swords in her life. She slashed him several times, drawing blood. He got her as well. Finally Gwen went for the kill, aiming her blade for Brenden's throat. He sidestepped and swung, shattering her blade with his own. Caught off guard, Gwen turned, and felt Brenden's blade pierce her midsection. Her eyes widened in shock, and she gasped in pain. "NO!" Trent shouted from the sidelines. Brenden held Gwen close for a moment and whispered, "Goodbye, Gwen."

Brenden withdrew his blade from Gwen's body and turned away from her. She stood for a few seconds, before falling, her broken blade slipping from her hand as she hit the ground. Brenden walked back towards Dorian and Aneka a smirk on his face. As he reached them he felt something behind him. He turned to find Gwen rising to her feet. He charged, blade raised, but she caught him in the midsection with a knee. As Brenden doubled over in pain, Gwen wrapped her arm around his head. With one quick upward thrust, she snapped his neck, killing him instantly. She dropped his body and stood for a moment in shock, as did everyone else, before staggering backwards. Trent caught her, a smile on his face.

Dorian looked over at the campers, hatred in his eyes, drawing a small metal sphere from his pocket, speaking as he did. "First blood goes to you, but let us see how you deal with the Reckoning."


	38. Reckoning

The former campers stared at Dorian in horror. They knew what the metal sphere contained, and they did not want to deal with it. The disk Thomas' had given Duncan had shown them exactly what the Reckoning virus would do if unleashed. Dorian picked up on their horror and smiled.

"I see you are already familiar with my ultimate weapon." he said. "Thomas' work no doubt. He was always so resourceful, pity he had to die."

"Shut up you sick bastard!" Duncan shouted. "Thomas was a great man, and you will be lucky to get half the glory he does."

"Ha, my dear boy if this was about glory, I would already have won." said Dorian. " But this is about so much more than glory. It is about retribution. It is about the beauty of watching the world burn, in payment for their sins."

"You talk about this like it's some kind of holy war." said Noah. "But you do not see that what you are doing in no way makes you righteous. You are a greater sinner than anyone here and yet you believe that it is your duty to wipe out sin. But your logic is flawed; you are a living, breathing oxymoron, incapable of seeing that what you are doing is not the work of God. It is the work of a sick, twisted, and cowardly man."

"Perhaps you are right, Noah." Dorian replied. "But keep in mind that it is I who hold the fate of the world in my hands. This virus will wipe out the human race and one false move is all I need to unleash it." He smiled and held the sphere up to Noah's face.

Noah backed away, glaring at Dorian. "Ah, you see the power I hold?" said Dorian. "You step forward to challenge me, and yet you lack the nerve to deal the final blow. Your desire to be a compassionate human overrides your desire to kill, and that is your weakness. You cannot do what is necessary to win."

"Compassion is not our weakness, it is our strength." said Bridgette. "It is what allows us to see the whole picture. Compassion gives us clarity, it gives us unity. While you rely upon blind hatred and violence to achieve your goals, we rely upon kindness and love to achieve ours. We use the weapons of light, and light will always triumph over the dark. Good always defeats evil."

"Ha, so naïve you are Bridgette." said Dorian. "You know nothing of the laws of the cosmic battle. Good may triumph over evil, but good must always make a sacrifice to the darkness. Are you prepared to sacrifice yourself Bridgette? Are you willing to die for the Greater Good?" Bridgette did not answer. "You see, she talks a big game, but she will not back up her words. You have already lost." said Dorian.

"It appears we have reached a stalemate then." said Duncan. "Neither side will back down, but neither side will step up either."

"So you think." said Dorian, with a smile. With that, he signaled his soldiers to attack and the final battle had begun.

**A/N: Yeah, I know it's a really short chapter, but it is necessary. What you just read sets up the conclusion of this fic and like I've been promising for weeks it's gonna be good. So stay tuned, there's only three chapters left and then it's time for the sequel!**


	39. The Silent Assassin

The two sides clashed with a ferocity unlike any they had ever experienced. All 22 campers threw themselves into battle, intent upon forcing Dorian to feel all the pain he had caused them over the last several months. Despite her injuries from her fight with Brenden, Gwen joined her friends in the fighting. The gaping wound in her midsection had stopped oozing blood, and she no longer felt pain, but in the back of her mind Gwen had a feeling she was the sacrifice Dorian had been talking about. _So what if I am?_ she thought, _at least the others will win. If my death is required to achieve victory, then I will gladly accept it. _Still, she would not just lay down and die. If it was indeed her destiny to leave her friends, she intended to face it standing and fighting.

Gwen was not the only one who held her head high despite the chaos and carnage. Duncan fought like the entire world was behind him, tearing into enemy's with such ferocity that he appeared almost inhuman. Izzy gleefully threw herself into combat, just glad that the talking was over. It was obvious that she had had some training in this sort of thing, for she held her own quite well. Similarly, Eva fought with a vigor and passion well beyond her years. Trent proved he knew how to kick ass as well, taking down three enemies at once with a broken tree branch. And Abigail fought more ferociously than anyone, slaughtering enemies by the dozen with skill that matched that of her father.

Duncan was suddenly blindsided by a blow from Aneka. _You shall be the one I challenge. _He heard her voice in his head, sharp and clear, as if she had just yelled in his ear.

"What the hell?" he said. "Did you just speak to me mentally?" He looked at Aneka, who smiled at him. _Yes. _Her voice rang in his head again.

"How-how is that possible?" Duncan asked, bewildered by what he was experiencing.

_I lost the ability to physically speak when I was young due to an injury_, came Aneka's response. _I trained myself to communicate mentally, first with my brother, then with others._

"That is so cool!" said Duncan, ignoring the fact that he was holding a conversation with the enemy in the middle of battle.

_Yes. It is also quite useful, provided the person I am speaking with can communicate mentally as well. Brenden could do it, until Gwen killed him. _Aneka said. _Unfortunately I foresaw that. I knew Gwen would kill him, just as I know you will kill me. This does not however mean I will not fight you. I intend to take you with me Duncan, and rest assured it will be painful._

"How can you know all this?" Duncan asked. "How could you know your brother was going to die and still let him face Gwen?"

_There are many things I know and many abilities I have that separate me from other humans_, came Aneka's response, _and as far as Brenden is concerned, I have no control over his destiny. If he was meant to die at Gwen's hand, he was meant to die at her hand. There is nothing I could have done. You, of all people, should recognize destiny when it appears before you._

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I accept it." said Duncan.

_You have no choice in the matter. Destiny is destiny, we all have one and we cannot escape it. _Aneka said, with a slight smile.

"Says you." said Duncan. And with that, he threw himself at Aneka, and their personal fight began. Aneka sidestepped his attack with ease, drawing a short blade as she did. She plunged the blade into his side, twisting it to cause maximum damage. Duncan screamed in pain, but managed to push her off. He threw a series of quick jabs, that connected with Aneka's face, knocking her to the ground. She stood, wiping a bit of blood from her lower lip. _You fight well, Duncan, but can you accept destiny? Can you do what must be done and prove Dorian wrong? _Aneka's voice asked.

Duncan smiled and kicked her in the gut, grabbing her by the head as she fell, and planting her face first on the pavement. She rolled onto her back and kicked him in the face as she got to her feet. They traded blows for several more minutes, moving ever further from the main battle. Finally, after what seemed like hours they came to a stop on a old bridge overlooking railroad tracks. Duncan stood at the edge of the bridge, panting, blood flowing from multiple stab wounds. Aneka also took a moment to catch her breath, which was difficult, considering the cracked ribs she had suffered from a shot to the gut by Duncan.

After a moment or two, Aneka lunged at Duncan, plunging two daggers into his chest. Though he was taken by surprise, Duncan managed to grab hold of her. He twisted and threw himself over the side of the bridge, taking Aneka with him. They hit the tracks below with a sickening thud, the impact separating them from one another. Aneka gasped, convulsing slightly in pain, as she felt her back break. Duncan got to his feet, coughing up blood and clutching his ribs. Somehow Aneka also managed to stand, just in time to see the train barreling towards them at full speed. They leapt in opposite directions, Aneka hurling one of her daggers as she did. As she twisted in the air, the train clipped her legs, spinning her away from the tracks. As she fell, she noticed a railroad spike jutting out of the ground. She landed, her throat impaling on the spike, killing her instantly.

On the other side of the tracks, Aneka's dagger hit Duncan in the back, impaling him through the heart. He hit the ground, rolled twice, and was still. Death had finally claimed him.

Meanwhile, back at the main battle, nearly half of Dorian's soldiers had been killed. The other campers were all still alive, but several of them had been injured. Gwen now lay off to one side of the battlefield, her wounds finally catching up with her. She could feel death coming to her again, but it would not take her completely. Bridgette, Harold, Katie, Sadie, Beth, Tyler, and Ezekiel had also been injured, and all of them, except Harold joined Gwen on the sidelines. Harold continued to fight, despite the fact that he could barely walk, due to a gunshot wound to his thigh. He met up with Courtney, who was pretty messed up herself.

"Have you seen Duncan?" Courtney gasped, clutching her chest. Harold shook his head, he hadn't seen Duncan since the fight had begun, and had no idea where he could be. He hoped Duncan was alright.

Duncan's eyes snapped open. He was lying face down in the dirt next to the train tracks. He felt a sharp pain in his chest that radiated around to his back as he got up. He looked down at his chest and saw the tip of a blade sticking out where his heart would be. "Great." he said aloud. "Just fucking great. I have a dagger in my heart." He stopped, pondering the absurdity of that statement.

And then he remembered, he had been fighting Aneka, there had been a train, and she had thrown the dagger. He had not realized it had hit him, until he came back. He had been dead; so that was what it felt like. It wasn't so bad, considering. He pulled the dagger out and felt the wound heal instantly. He then crossed the tracks and found Aneka's body, her throat impaled upon a railroad spike. He bent over and lifted her up, sliding her off the spike. It was obvious she was dead, but he wanted to make absolutely certain. He rolled her over onto her back. Her eyes were open and glassy, her face pale from lack of blood. He stroked her face, brushing dirt off and closed her eyes. He stood to leave and paused, looking back at the silent assassin. "You fought well Aneka. May your heart find peace in whatever destiny awaits you on the other side." And with that, he headed back to the main battle.

**A/N: Okay, so there's the beginning of the final battle. It get's even more intense, and the conclusion should satisify everyone.**


	40. Dorian's Fall

As Duncan made his way back to the battle, his friends were engaged in what had become the fight of their lives. There was no challenge any of them had ever faced that was as difficult to deal with as this. Despite having killed over half of Dorian's soldiers, the former campers were still losing. Gwen was near death, and the others were getting cut to pieces by the soldiers. Harold had finally succumbed to his injuries and was now lying on the sidelines with Gwen, Bridgette, Katie, Sadie, Beth, Tyler, and Ezekiel. Lindsey and Cody had also joined the fallen, and Courtney, Noah, and Heather were also near collapse. Trent, Geoff, D.J., Justin, Eva, LeShawna, Owen, Izzy, Chris, Chef, and Abigail were still fighting, but even they were faring badly. Izzy, Chef, and Abigail seemed to be faring the best, to no ones surprise. Still, it was obvious that they could use Duncan's help, but no one seemed to know where he was.

Trent took down another soldier, before a blow sent him reeling backwards. D.J. caught him and pulled him to his feet. "Thanks, D.J." said Trent. "Where the hell is Duncan? We could really use his help right now, we're getting eaten alive."

"Yeah." said D.J. "I think I saw him fighting with Aneka earlier, but I lost track of them. I hope he's okay."

Trent dodged a shot from a soldier and fired one back before answering. "He has to be okay D.J. There's no way Duncan would just lie down and die. I just wish he'd get back or we may not win this thing." They heard a rocket streaking towards them, and D.J. grabbed Trent, throwing him to the ground. The rocket hit near them, the explosion throwing them backwards into a tree.

After a few minutes, Trent got to his feet. Geoff appeared next to him. "You guys alright?" he asked, concerned. Trent looked down at D.J., who was motionless on the ground.

"D.J.?" he asked. "D.J., can you hear me?"

"Ugh, damn that hurt." D.J. said rolling onto his back. "Where the hell did they get rockets?"

"Probably bought them from the military or something." said Trent. "Look, let's get moving before they lob another one this way." D.J. and Geoff nodded, and they moved off, towards higher ground.

Meanwhile, Chris, Chef, and Abigail were fighting through a wall of soldiers, attempting to get to Dorian, who had positioned himself at the top of a hill overlooking the battlefield. He was surrounded by soldiers who were putting up a very good fight. But Chris, Chef, and Abigail were determined to get to him, and no number of soldiers was going to stop them. They fought ferociously, tearing the wall of soldiers down, one by one. Further along the hillside, Izzy, Owen, and Eva were attempting the same thing, fighting towards Dorian.

Finally, Chef broke through the line and reached Dorian. He lunged at Dorian, who fired several shots, stopping Chef short. Chef froze for a moment before falling and rolling back down the hill. "CHEF!" Chris screamed, as his friend fell. He did not have time to grab Chef, as soldiers closed in around him and Abigail. "Damn you Dorian!" Chris shouted as he was engulfed by soldiers.

Izzy saw Chef fall and turned, heading back down the hill to check on him. "Eva, Owen, get Chris and Abigail." she shouted over shoulder. They nodded and continued to fight their way up the hill. Izzy reached Chef, finding him badly injured but still alive. "Thank God." she said, pulling Chef to his feet. As she helped him towards the safety of the sidelines, a bullet caught her in the back, right between the shoulder blades. Izzy screamed in pain and fell, but Chef caught her. Cody and Tyler moved to help them and with great effort they got them to safety.

"Ugh, no, gotta keep fighting." gasped Izzy, as Bridgette tried to stop the bleeding.

"Izzy, you can't keep going in your condition." said Harold, wincing in pain.

"But-but they need me." Izzy gasped. "They're going to be killed."

"I don't think any of us is getting out of this now Izzy." said Harold. "We're in over our heads, and I don't see any of us surviving, even with Thomas' deal protecting us."

"I hate to say it, but Harold's right." gasped Gwen, somehow still drawing breath, despite her wounds.

The others looked at her, knowing she and Harold were right, despite their hope that they would still find a way to win.

Back on top of the hill, Abigail and Chris had broken free of the soldiers grasp and were now fighting alongside Owen and Eva, who had made it to the top. Several soldiers tackled Owen, sending him back down the hill. Eva ran down to help, drawing several more soldiers with her. Chris and Abigail finally took out the remaining soldiers. Dorian fled back down the hill, heading towards the wounded campers. Chris and Abigail followed him intent on preventing him from doing any more damage. Dorian reached the others, stopped, and turned on the spot. He aimed his gun at Chris' head, smiling as he did so, and said, "Time for you to pay for your treachery." Before he could fire, a shot rang out from across the field, striking Dorian in the chest. Chris and Abigail turned to see Duncan standing halfway down the hill.

"Duncan!" Courtney cried, as he approached. "Where have you-?"

"Later." he said, cutting her off. He glared at Dorian and said, "It ends, now!"

Dorian smiled and raised his gun, firing at Duncan, who dove to one side, avoiding the shot. Duncan returned fire, as did Abigail. A brief gun battle ensued, Dorian trading shots with the two of them. After several minutes, Dorian ran out of bullets. Duncan smiled and said, "Looks like it's over McGraver. You lose."

"You think so." coughed Dorian, holding up the Reckoning sphere. Duncan's eyes widened, he had forgotten about the virus.

Dorian smiled. "Ah, forgotten about my equalizer, have we? Well let us see if you forget about it now." And with that he hurled the sphere into the air. Abigail fired as he did so, her bullet striking Dorian in the head, killing him.

Duncan looked up, following the sphere's path. "Shit." he said, unable to get a good enough read on it to make the catch. Suddenly, Tyler dove passed him, arms outstretched to make the catch. He snagged the sphere out of the air, hit the ground, and rolled away from the others.

"Tyler?" Duncan asked, looking at him, concerned. After a moment, Tyler held up his hand, the undamaged sphere grasped within it. The others broke into cheers. It was finally over, Dorian was dead, they had won. Duncan pulled Tyler to his feet and embraced him. "I knew you had it in you." he said. "I knew you had an athlete hiding in you somewhere."

As the celebrating commenced, there was still one thing left to do. The former campers were still bloodied and bruised from the fighting and were rapidly succumbing to their wounds. Duncan released Tyler and looked at his tired, beaten down family. "I'm sorry." he said. "We won, but at what price? I fear it may be to late to reverse this damage."

"Don't be so sure of that, Duncan." said a voice behind him. Duncan turned to find Thomas Locke standing with a tall man, dressed in black; David Luminous. His eyes widened, the shock of what he was seeing hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"What-what are you-I mean what?" he asked, staring in awe.

"There was a deal made between this man, Thomas Locke, and myself." said Luminous. "As long as I receive his soul and that of Dorian McGraver III, you are all spared the hand of death. I fully intend to honor that deal, so, be free and live." He held out his hand and instantly all wounds healed.

Luminous then moved over to Dorian's body. He reached out and grasped Dorian's soul, which was floating above the body. "Time to go Dorian." he said. "Time to pay for your sins."

Thomas' soul looked at the campers. "Well done." he said. "I knew you could do it. Please forgive me for what I did, and understand that I was only trying to help."

"We forgive you Thomas." said Gwen. "Be at peace."

Thomas smiled and turned to his daughter. "Abigail, my beautiful daughter, my biggest regret in all of this was not being able to be with you. I know I was not there when you were young, and I am so sorry. I am so glad to see the strong young woman you have become."

Abigail looked at her father, tears in her eyes, and said, "Father, I will never forget the lessons you taught me and I will always miss you." Thomas smiled and nodded.

"Thomas, it's time to go." said Luminous.

Thomas nodded, and turned to leave. He paused and looked back at the others. "Go forth, and live your lives. And remember your strength lies within each other. Never forget that you will always be remembered for what you did here today. Let that knowledge guide you as fulfill your own destinies. I wish you all the best of luck." With that, he, Luminous, and Dorian faded into the shadows, leaving the campers alone in the clearing.

"So, now what?" asked Ezekiel.

"Now we celebrate." said Geoff. "I've been dying to see that club." Harold smiled and he and Geoff led them off to Drama.

**A/N: Well, there you go. That was the final battle, hope it lived up to your expectations. If not, I apologize, but there's not a lot I can do. Once the chapters are up I don't change them unless it's absolutely necessary. And remember, this is not the end. There's still one more chapter and then the sequels.**


	41. Epilogue: Six Months Later

Gwen stood on the front porch of her and Trent's house, staring out at the lawn across the street. Six months had passed since the end of the war with Dorian. Life had returned to normal, well as normal as life can be when you're famous. Still, Gwen was having trouble forgetting what had happened to them in Toronto. She could not shake the horrible memories of their ordeal, particularly her own death. Despite this, there were happy things to look forward to. They had spent the night of their victory celebrating and discussing their future plans. Gwen let her mind drift back to that night, remembering the happiness that had enveloped Drama.

_"Well, we did it." said Duncan, holding a glass aloft. "I just want to say I'm glad we all made it out on the other side. I could not have done that without you, and I thank you all for being strong, even when things looked bad. We are a family, and we fought like one. I will never forget the compassion, kindness, dedication, and love you have all shown during the last few months."_

_"And we thank you, Duncan, for your leadership, your dedication, and your ability to keep us together, even when we were ready to give up." said Chris._

_"Here, here mate!" shouted Ezekiel, raising his glass as well._

_The rest of the night was spent dancing and celebrating. Harold, Tyler, and Cody threw down some wicked break-dance moves and Trent busted out some soulful tunes on the guitar. At some point Geoff and Bridgette ended up making out in the DJ booth. Later on, Izzy and Owen were caught giggling and kissing on the balcony._

_"What are you two giggling about?" asked Trent._

_"Oh, we forgot to mention, we're getting married." said Izzy. "Owen proposed in the middle of the fight."_

_"Yeah Owen, way to rock the we may die so let's get married trick." said Duncan, laughing._

This memory brought a smile to Gwen's face. It made her happy to know that after all the adversity they had faced, they were still able to find pleasure in the simple things; the everyday acts of life. "What are you smiling at?" Trent asked, joining Gwen on the porch.

"Oh, just remembering the celebration, when Izzy and Owen told us they were getting married." Gwen replied.

"Yeah." Trent chuckled. "It's nice to see them finally get hitched."

Gwen smiled and nodded. Trent wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "Do, you think we'll ever escape the pain of that war?" Gwen asked.

"It may take some time, but I think we will." Trent replied. Just then the phone rang. Trent went inside to answer it. After several minutes, he returned.

"Who was it?" Gwen asked, looking at her husband.

"Duncan." said Trent. "He wants to know if we'd like to go to a concert with him next weekend. Said Courtney couldn't go, something about her needing to catch up on work." Gwen smiled and nodded again; life really was back to normal.

**A/N: Well folks, there you go. The end of the Hunted. As with A Place Called Home, I really enjoyed writing this fic and I want to thank all the people who wrote reviews. I know some of what I wrote made some of you unhappy, but thanks for sticking with me. I promise the sequels will be better. So stick around, there's lots more fun to come!**


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